Harry Potter and the Book of Symbols
by kauthreader
Summary: What would happen if Petunia wasn't happy with a simple "note" left by Dumbledore? After making him and Minerva come over to explain more, changes are made to what would have happened. As Harry grows up with actual friends and a semi-brother, the changes in this AU is enough to change more than 'a few things' No horcrux, NOT slash, new made-up characters, "M" for later lang/violent
1. Chapter 1: Zoo trip

Summary: I don't know what its wholly gonna be about yet, but its gonna have "early changes" that help harry out later on in life…

Chapter 1: Zoo Trip

Harry awoke from his sleep-induced coma that left him dreadfully tired every morning with a knock on his door. How typical, Dudley couldn't wait for Harry to hand over his gift. So, with no more restfulness apparent, Harry got up from his bed and wished his cousin a happy 5th birthday.

Dudley, for the most part, was actually happy that Harry was treating him like a brother, instead of just a "part of the family," as his mother was so intent to repeat every year at the end of July.

For a whole month, Harry had planned on giving his cousin a gift that would keep him happy for at least a month, because every other gift would work wonders for the day, or the week, but never more than that. Once school started, Harry and Dudley would be in the same boat, and nothing would be as different as their hair would be. Not a single kid on the street looked forward to school, no matter where it was, but Harry was different. He couldn't wait to prove that he wasn't a "freeloading freak of nature" that his uncle Vernon was constantly calling him. Just because he was "left" on his doorstep, Vernon Dursley was determined to make an acceptable person out of his nephew; his own son was already a worthy son, but Harry had yet to prove it to him.

From the first days that he could read, Harry was given books that Dudley has already read and forgotten about. Classic fairytales, old-school mystery novels, chapter-books, and even a few scary books…they were all second-nature for Harry, and a struggle for Dudley. But today was different; Harry found a new book that uncle Vernon's "precious Dudders" couldn't've read yet….it was a hidden book Harry found in his Aunt's room. It had weird writing on it, and it didn't look like a normal book, with chapters, a summary at the beginning, or even a single name on the book, just thw weird symbols.

"Harry, are you dressed yet?" That annoying but caring voice called once again. His Aunt Petunia, who still wants to be called "Tuney."

"Almost" Harry yelled down after his "Auntuney." It's something he learned that was a nickname, since at the tender age of two he couldn't string Aunt Tuney together without messing it up.

"Well, breakfast is done and the car is almost ready to go. Hurry up or you might have to stay with Old Lady Figg."

"I'm coming down! Don't leave me with her cats, they're mean!"

After that, Harry was motivated to speeds faster than even he thought possible. Less than a minute later and Harry was standing at the door, leaving his sanctuary for the day's plans. This was Dudley's birthday, and they were going to the zoo with the Polkiss family. Piers and Penelope were the only friends of Dudley's, ever since Harry got chased down the street by some of the neighborhood kids and both Piers and Dudley chased them back. Harry thought Penelope was too attached to Dudley for only a 3-year old, but who was he to know what she was thinking. Maybe she didn't have any friends either.

After the long drive, almost two hours of it, to the zoo, he finally got to see some of the animals that were in the books he and Dudley read as younger kids. To say that this was something that Harry was actually looking forward to was something of an understatement. The longest tripe he had ever had before this was to the creek two streets away from his house, and that was only because they had their bikes with them. Both Dudley and Piers were already there and having fun in the water at the time, until he heard that annoying voice calling for him and Dudley to come home for dinner. Who knew she could be heard this far away from the house; and to think his uncle called _him_ a freak of nature.

First thing inside the gates were birds, and not even some rare species from a distant land, normal pigeons and crows. Boring, he could stay home and see them. So Dudley and Harry moved away from their parents as far as they could, and saw a Lion and a Panther on the trail. Now that was something to see.

"Noble Feline Kingdom" Harry read out.

Dudley looked over at Harry, Harry looked back with an innocent expression. "What? You can read that so fast?"

"No surprise there, Harry can read chapter books as fast as my mom can." Piers said nonchalantly.

"What do you expect, he reads almost every day, and all day when it rains."

"Yeah, but they are boring books; I can't wait to get home to read the new one I found. It's different from the normal ones." Harry's face showed nothing but the thrill of something completely new.

Dudley "hmm'd" and left it at that. Next was the reptile part of the zoo. Piers was into lizards, but not snakes. No one knew why, but the cousins thought it was because lizards had feet to move on, and the snake that bit his sister last year slithered away to God knows where. Dudley liked cats, hated dogs, and ignored birds, lizards, and spiders. Harry liked all animals except dogs. His "Aunt Marge" was the reason the whole family, except for Vernon of course, hated dogs.

When they passed the lizards and moved onto the more unusual of the reptiles, Harry's interest once again perked. "DRAGONS!" Harry yelled out to the others.

"They can't be real dragons; they don't exist anymore" Harry heard Auntuney say.

"But the sign does say dragons on it. Maybe they're what dragons turned into, or a different kind of dragon." Piers said.

This led Dudley and Harry to explore a bit more, and after a few feet, they heard someone call to them; at least, they were the only ones on this trail, so it had to be them the worker was talking to.

"What are you doing here, this area is off-limits." Harry turned to see the weirdest person he had ever seen. "How did you even get here?"

It was now that Dudley realized he was lost, since not a single person was around them. Harry and Dudley were lost, and the strange person was walking towards them with something like a twisted twig in his left hand, pointed at them.

 _An hour later_

"What happened to them, you said"

"They went to an off-limits area; when I called out to them, they tripped and fell. I brought them to you, since you were the only ones looking for lost children. Try to keep them close, since some of the areas are off-limits for a reason."

Harry woke up from what seemed like a dream, but as soon as he thought the word 'Dream' he forgot everything that happened in the last few hours. Dudley was next to him, also looking a little tired, and a little confused. Did they run into a door or something? Harry's head was hurting a little, so he felt his forehead. Looking for a cut or bruise or something and finding none, he figured he might as well forget the whole thing.

"Harry, are you okay? You look like your head is hurting." It was then that he realized the voices he heard were his Auntuney and the worker that brought him to his family from wherever he fell at.

"I'm fine, just a little headache or something. Can we get some ice cream now? I'm hungry."

"Yeah, ice cream!" Dudley was clearly looking forward to something sweet and cold. It was close to 90 degrees, and not even 1:00 yet.

"Fine, but not too much; ice cream here is too darn expensive" Harry heard Vernon say to them. Harry looked over and saw a sign that read "Off-limits: free-roaming snakes" where he thought he say the same sign saying "Dragons" on it before. The sign was shining in the sun a little, like it was a mirror, or glass, with writing on it instead of the black background he thought he saw earlier.

"Harry? You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, just thought I saw something weird."

When Harry looked back at his cousin, something in his eyes told him that whatever he was imagining wasn't just his imagination. Something weird happened, and Dudley knew something or someone was trying to pretend it didn't.

At the ice cream parlor, they each got the biggest cones they could imagine, with at least three stacked scoops of their favorite flavors. Chocolate mint for Harry, Butterscotch for Auntuney, French Vanilla for Dudley, and Strawberry for Vernon. Piers and his family got cookies, brownies, and a strawberry shortcake for Penelope. They all shared everything, but Harry thought Penelope would never grow out of her "I love strawberry everything" phase that her parents prayed to end. Any kind of berry was expensive for this area, strawberry even more so. Paying ten euro for only 10 strawberries was much more than if you lived near Manchester or New Castle. Little Whinging had no farmland to grow strawberries, and the weather didn't agree with the needs of almost any fruits or vegetables.

After everyone was done their sweets, the tour continued. Not a single person noticed the worker constantly watching the two families. Well, almost not a single person. The only one who did was a stranger to both families, but now was more curious than when he followed the family through the "off-limits" area where the two boys "fell." The follower now stalked his stalker with more interest as the day went on. One weird event that would eventually fade away, he though. But soon enough, the day was ending when all this effort would pay off.

 _Two hours later_

Auntuney and the others were ready to finally leave, but not before turning to the Polkiss Family and wishing them a Happy weekend. It was as she was turning back to the car that she noticed the same worker in the corner of her peripheral, watching the departing family with more concentration than Vernon at a "Business Dinner" with the CEO of Grunnings. The worker didn't notice the hesitation in Petunia's movement, so she continued towards the car, leaning to Vernon and whispering something in his ear.

"But we're about to leave. Couldn't it wait?" Vernon said, louder than needed.

"No, and it's a two-hour drive; I wouldn't want to hold anything that long without a break….I KNOW you wouldn't."

"Fine, but hurry up, the Zoo closes the gates in five minutes." Harry took this time to look at his uncle in wonder. He never gave up an argument this easily….whatever was happening, it was something important or serious.

As the worker watched the mother turn into the restroom area, he moved his eyes back to the family in the car, patiently waiting for their mother to return so they could all go home. What he forgot to realize was that the loo had a back exit, with two other ways to get out. He quickly remembered when he heard a voice behind him force him to jump in surprise.

"Why are you watching my family?"

"Huh? I was making sure that you left without forgetting anything. I am responsible for making sure nothing or no one is lost when I lock up the gates." To prove his point, he dangled his keys from his pocket, even pulling them out so she could see.

"That's not it. I'm not stupid, and I know that look in your eyes. I grew up with that look."

To say he was officially intimidated would be like saying a lion could be overprotective. "Look, I just needed to make sure everyone got out alright before I shut down the gates."

"I'm sure that's what most people would believe, but I'm not most people. I'll only say this once: leave – my – family – alone."

"I'm not trying to stalk your family. I'm just doing my job." He stated. The look in her eyes after he was about to walk away told him she wasn't convinced. He ignored the look and escorted her to the other side of the gate. Closing and locking the gate, he gave her one last look before turning away from her and towards his next station; the guard shack next to the gate mechanics.

As soon as she reached the car, she saw Harry and Dudley looking at her with curiosity, and Vernon with concern.

"Something I need to be worried about?" Vernon asked her.

"No, just something I needed an answer to." She answered.

"What was that about? Did that man ask you something?" Harry poked at the back seat with his finger, ignoring the questions Dudley just asked. She could tell he was curious, but didn't want to be the one to ask anything.

"No, nothing much. Let's get home, I'm sure Molly will be missing you both already."

"A whole day and no one feeding her? I hope she doesn't bring a mouse again." Dudley said.

"Yeah, that thing stunk for two days before we saw it under my bed." Harry added, looking mildly disgusted.

"I hope not; we don't need any more pets. A cat is bad enough; just be glad she goes outside instead of using the kitty litter." Vernon said with conviction.

Auntuney looked over at her boys and added the last thing to say; "Well, if it is a new pet, I hope both of you get along with it."

The two-hour ride back actually took three, mostly because Petunia fell asleep for half an hour, and buy the time she woke up, Vernon needed a break. They stopped at a park just before the sun set for the night. There was only one other family there, still playing on the swing set and the monkey bars. She didn't think anyone could have that many red-headed children and stay sane. That poor father, having to deal with six boys; her two were a handful enough, but triple that amount would not be fun. The family left just before Harry and Dudley started to wake up enough to actually play with each other. Playing tag at sunset is something even she would do with her own sister growing up. They just didn't have the imagination to play Hide-n-Seek in the dark like Harry and Dudley had. As soon as they got home, the stumbling up the stairs began, and the flop on their beds was enough to relax her thoughts. So much happened today, and so many unanswered questions.

A/N: No, I will not be saying who the worker or the 'follower' will be/are, but ill tell you this: if I name someone and describe them, its most likely because they will come up again.

Most of my characters will be "cannon" since I don't like too much change. But, I will say that the little changes that have already happened will be listed at the end of this note…. Also, the little changes I have made to the story will make sense and will cause other changes, like a type of butterfly effect.. but not to the Nth degree like some stories.

Okay: my own vocabulary lesson….. I hate using the word "probably"….. its hard and slow to type, so I will replace it with prolly….. its easy, fast, and slang…  
cuz will replace because..for the same reason.  
Gonna is gong replace "going to"….  
imma will replace "im going to" or "I will" ….

ill have more coming up, but so far that's the only obvious one so far.

Changes I have made so far:

Petunia, in her grief over a lost sister, and the realization of HOW Lily died changed her opinion, but not as soon as "immediately." It will come up later, and you can probably guess, but she had Dumbledore, and by extension Minerva, come over and explain more…. Well, more like black-mailed them to come over.

Vernon, after realizing what magic really is, is still "Slytherin" in his thoughts, so he doesn't automatically hate everything magic, and uses the term "freak" as a playful teasing. Youll see why later, but realize this, he loves his wife, and he has what I call "common sense." As in: he realizes that there are good and bad things that come from or are caused by magic, and that theres almost no difference between people like Voldemort and Hitler. If his own world has monsters and noble people, then so does Harry's world.

Obviously, they both know of magic and all that, just aren't willing to tell harry or Dudley until they see something that makes it obvious. Youll see what I mean later.


	2. Chapter 2: Books and Symbols

Chapter 2: Books and Symbols

From the moment Harry woke up, the realization that something is different was obvious. For one thing, Dudley wasn't in his room, jumping on his bed, yelling at the top of his voice, and was prolly outside, since he could hear the door slam shut and Vernon yelling after his son. This was, apparently, the first, and most obvious, difference. The second was that when he looked at his alarm clock, it said a time that couldn't possibly be. There's no way that his Aunt and Uncle let him sleep in until noon. It was just not possible. Then realization hit him. The date.

Today was July 31st; his 9th birthday, and the day that he goes shopping for his new middle school clothes. He was, afterall, gonna start at a different school than Dudley. He never thought he would see the day. Since the first time that his grades started to show more improvement than a few extra points, his teachers and family started to take notice. Sometimes, something as small as an extra assignment was typical, and others the extra lessons were "there just cuz." Piers and Dudley were still gonna go to the same set of schools that were typical for their area, but Harry was headed to a prep school.

His teacher, Ms. Miller, was the first to take notice. Since the second week of first grade, she noticed the doodles, notes, and habits of Harry. Lessons were easy for Harry, and she thought he could prolly do the second or third grade assignments with little practice. When she surprised the Dursleys and gave Harry the Third Years' Final exam in second grade, she showed it to Petunia first, then Vernon. A perfect score on an exam that Harry never even studied for was quite exceptional. So, Harry was advanced to the next grade, and found his place in with the 4th year students.

Starting 5th grade at nine years old is something to brag about, but Harry was not a bragger, and definitely not a show-off. If anything, he was the best helper a teacher could ask for. Helping Dudley, Piers, and Penelope was what helped them all pass a year ahead of the grade they were currently in.

Back to his original train of thought, Harry was supposed to be getting ready for breakfast; well more like lunch now. So, he headed towards the table with drowsy eyes, and Petunia perked up. Coffee does that, but so does seeing her brilliant nephew look at her with a happy expression. She knew it was his birthday, but she had a bit more of a surprise for him than she thought he realized.

Vernon brought it up last year, and they didn't know what to do this year. They knew the time was ripe, but they didn't know if Dudley, or even Harry, would know what to do with what was gonna happen.

"So, Harry. Any special requests today?" Vernon asked. He had long-since stopped tormenting him with expectations and standards. Those had been passed long ago.

"Not really, just food. I'm starving." Harry said with a smirk.

"Toast and jelly it is." Petunia said.

"That's what Dudley had?" Harry asked, surprised Dudley would only eat that much. Dudley was large for a nine-year-old, but not as large as he could've been.

"No, he had a few other things. Prolly is already digested now though." The look on Harry's face made Petunia start to chuckle, and Vernon outright laugh.

"You're joking, aren't you" Harry said, "Of course you are, there's no way Dudley only ate a piece of jelly'd toast."

"He had some leftovers from last night." Petunia was already headed to the fridge to get Harry some of the same.

"Oh, okay. I thought I was going insane for a minute."

 _Three hours later_

Harry had finally caught up with Piers and Penelope. Her "crush" on Dudley had disappeared when she realized that Dudley didn't like her that much. After three years of nothing but jokes and pranks, she realized that it was just that, a crush. Her eyes found Harry's and the green tint in his eyes told her what she needed to know; she was essentially a sister, and would go no further, no matter how long they joked around the neighborhood.

But what surprised Harry the most wasn't either of them, but Piers. The boy, from the age of six until eight, had rivaled with Harry on anything. But last year, Harry had done something Piers had not expected. Piers was always on the run from the bullies at his own school, the older years being the prime candidates for any kind of hazing activities. When Harry was on his way back from school, he saw Piers getting picked on in front of the school gates. That school would have been his also, but Harry was now a grade above both Piers and Dudley. With little more than a single sentence, Harry stopped the bully's attention from being directed at Piers, and ran for his life; there was seven of them, and Harry stood no chance of escaping all of them at once. Turning a corner, Harry couldn't believe his eyes; they had caught up and cornered him…there was no escape, and no one to help him. That is, before Piers, Penelope, and Dudley showed up, anyways. But before he realized this, he blinked and found himself on the school roof. He had no idea how it happened, only that it did.

What was worse is that he wasn't the only one to notice. Both Piers and Penelope saw exactly what happened. Both couldn't believe it, but who were they to argue with something they just saw. As soon as Harry got home, they both started rambling on about what they saw, and how they saw it. Piers was waiting for Dudley to come home to say everything, but once he did, even Harry was speechless.

That is, until Petunia came home. She heard what happened and told everyone to ignore what happened and that their minds must have played tricks on them. When that was said, Vernon stepped up behind her and told everyone that something like what they said happened was impossible, and to leave it at that.

So here they were, once again forgetting their troubles and having fun as the little children they are. Things like playing in the creek and splashing each other until everyone was drenched to the bone is normal for kids, no matter where they live or how many there are. After a few hours of this, including chasing Penelope down the creek until she was up a tree, the fatigue set in. With nothing else to do, Harry was the first to collapse on the sidewalk. The sun would help dry them all before they had to go back to their houses. The unspoken agreement was, of course, that if any one of them showed up with wet clothes, they all would be in deep, deep trouble. However, after about a minute of settling down in the sunlight, something once again strange happened. Dudley sat up with surprise, and looked over at Penelope.

"Guys, my clothes are dry…completely dry."

"No they aren't, we only got out a few minutes ago." Harry said; but as soon as he said it, Penelope spoke up.

"I know that, but look; his shirt is dry again. I can tell, it's not as dark as it would be wet."

"Piers, tell me you see it too. You see it, right?" Dudley asked.

"Yeah, but how? I mean, I have more sun shining on me than you do, and I'm still soaked."

Harry looked at his shirt, and tried to will it to dry. Nothing happened, until he slowly noticed that the red in his shirt looked more pale, and the shorts felt warmer.

"WOW! Harry is dry too. Look! All the way dry, except the shoes…why is that?" Penelope asked.

"I don't know, maybe I wasn't trying to get them dry."

Dudley looked over at Harry. "Yeah, but I wasn't trying at all."

"Well, maybe you can dry all of us. It must be magic or something, but that's impossible, right?" Piers said, with a weird look on his face.

"Harry, maybe we can both do it. Us being family and all."

So they tried it. Dudley started to dry Piers a little bit before Harry started to dry Penelope. Both of the others decided, right then and there, to not tell anyone what happened. They told Harry and Dudley as much, and ran home with the other two.

When they got to the front door, Auntuney was waiting for them with dinner almost finished.

"Oh, I was about to call for you. Where were you, at the Polkiss' house again?"

"No, we went to the creek, but we didn't play in the water, just climbed the trees" Dudley lied smoothly.

"Well get washed up, your father is on his way home, and we have a Special Guest coming after dinner. Even you should recognize this one, Harry."

Harry and Dudley ran upstairs to the bathroom, half-fighting with each other to get to the sink first. Dudley won, so Harry used the tub.

"Harry, that's…weird; never seen someone use the tub as a sink before."

"Well I didn't want to wait; you take forever washing anything"

That much was true; when it came to doing dishes, Harry always did them when it was Dudley's turn, and Dudley cleared the table and took out the trash. It worked better and faster that way, and no one in the family minded the switch.

With the same magically-dried clothes on, they bounced down the stairs to the table, where Vernon was sitting with a smirk on his face.

"I hope you two didn't come here in wet clothes, you know how your mother hates that."

"No Dad, they're dry."

"Yeah, we didn't even go in the water today."

If it wasn't for being married for twelve years, Petunia would've missed the confused face her husband was stuck with at the moment. As it was, she decided to let her boys get away with whatever it was, for now; but her husband would have to explain whatever confused him.

After dinner, they told Harry to expect a friend, and try not to get too excited. Of course, this just made Harry even more confused, anxious, and curious. A curious mind is a dangerous thing with a child, not to mention one that is borderline-obsessed with cats.

Soon after the chores were done, Harry heard the doorbell ring. Before Petunia, who was closer to the door than anyone, could react, Harry swung open the door to find Ms. Miller grinning at him.

"Harry, it's been too long." She said, bending down a little to give Harry a big hug. "You too Dudley, you both have grown too much for me to pick you up anymore."

"Ms. Miller!" They both shouted. Somehow, the in-sync shouting is something she grew accustomed to, despite it being four years since she heard it.

"I came to invite you guys and your family to a dinner next week, and to see how you guys were doing in school."

"They both passed their end-of-year tests with perfect scores; Piers and Penelope too." Petunia said proudly.

"I'm just glad they can do well in school" Vernon stated calmly.

"Oh come off it, you know you're proud of them" Ms. Miller scoffed.

"Caught red-handed, by old friends no less. Vernon, you're losing your touch" Petunia mocked.

"Ha, you would too if you worked for Grunnings for sixteen years."

"You haven't quit that place yet? I'm surprised."

"I'm getting around to it…just gotta find a place to go to after is all." Vernon said.

In the background, Harry and Dudley were laughing on the inside, since both knew the adults got a kick of pushing each other's buttons. After this though, they wanted to get themselves known, and plotted behind their backs. While the adults were still mocking each other and joking around, Dudley snuck behind his dad while Harry snuck around to where Auntuney couldn't see what they both were doing.

Armed with fresh water balloons, they mentally counted to five before they threw them at the only two standing adults. With a gasp and shocked faces, Petunia and Vernon started, then stared at the children. Ms. Miller started chuckling, until she couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out in full-blown laughter; the children, then the other adults joining in after a few seconds. What a great start to the evening.

After about an hour of catching up and updates, Ms. Miller left the house, still laughing at the family's antics. This would be the last time she would be in the area, after all. She just couldn't break it to the kids; she didn't have the heart to see them sad about her change of career location.

Soon after their former teacher left, and unsettling mood filled the living room. In order to find out, they would have to remind the only two adults left that curiosity killed the cat. And so, with no more contemplation, Petunia started the conversation she knew would crush everyone's happy moods.

"Harry, Dudley, we have some news. Ms. Miller came by to say goodbye. She won't be in the area anymore; she got a promotion to a new school, in another country. She hasn't told us where yet, but she did say visiting us wouldn't be easy."

Their expression was exactly as predicted. Shock and awe, one hundred percent. "What, why? It can't be that far away, right?" Dudley mumbled.

"I think it was serious. She's never spent so much time avoiding our eyes." Harry, the ever-present observer, said.

"It was. To travel back near us, Ms. Miller said it would be about three days of driving. It was all we could get out of her."

"Well, at least she's happy. I don't think she would be smiling if she wasn't." Dudley said.

And so, that was that. They both were sent to bed for the next day's activities, which included getting ready for the next year of school. In Harry's room, Dudley was looking for a few things he said he might've left there from last year's classes. Harry knew it was possible, Dudley left a lot of binders, papers, study guides, and workbooks in Harry's room from when they were helping each other study. For some reason, Dudley was better at history and grammar than Harry, and Harry was better at almost everything else. That was when, in a weird way, the most abnormal discovery was made.

Dudley had his arm under Harry's bed looking for the pencil case when he snatched back his arm. Out of some curiosity, Harry asked what happened.

"There was something that shocked me." Dudley explained.

"But I don't have anything like that in this room, that's all in the game room."

"But I felt it. Look for yourself."

So Harry did. After swiping his arm a few times, his fingers snagged on something, and he could feel the shocking feeling travel from his fingertips all the way to his shoulder. Deciding to put on some gloves, he tried again, this time being able to grab whatever it was and pull it out from under his bed.

A Book. A really weird-looking book, with nothing written on the cover, but symbols all over it. Something about it triggered something in his mind, but he couldn't find out what. He passed it to Dudley, asking him if he ever saw it before.

"Yeah, I think so. Its familiar." He replied.

"Like, new familiar, or something from a while ago?"

"Old, definitely old. Maybe a few years ago?"

"THE ZOO!" Harry practically shouted.

"YEAH! You were holding onto it before we left, but you threw it down when mom told you we'd leave you at Figg's house." Dudley suddenly remembered.

"Weird, isn't that when we got lost in the zoo? And that weird guy told us we were in the off-limits place?"

Instead of saying anything else, Harry rubbed his hand down the spine, with the glove on. Nothing happened so he took the glove off.

"Careful, it shocked us. It isn't metal or something is it?" Dudley asked.

"Doesn't feel like it. Feels… … normal."

Once the gloves were off, literally, Harry felt something more than just an electric shock. He felt warmth, and happiness, like something good was going to happen. Curiosity getting the best of him, he opened the cover, revealing even more symbols, but with numbers next to them.

"This must be the index" Harry said.

"Let's put it away, it's almost eleven, and we have to get up early tomorrow. We can look at it this weekend."

"Okay."

Putting the book on the shelf, behind his frame of the zoo trip, they both returned to their beds and quickly fell asleep.

The next day, Petunia took them clothes shopping, and Vernon took them shopping for supplies. The book almost forgotten until that Saturday. Dudley always had a better memory, so when dinner was done, he practically dragged Harry up to his room.

"Where is it at now? Where'd you put it?"

"Huh? Where's what at?"

"The book. The weird one."

"Oh, right here. I'll keep it here, so if you wanna look at it, feel free to just grab it." Harry replied.

Half an hour of browsing the strange book with the symbols that no one could understand and neither of them were getting anywhere closer to finding out what it was or why it was in the house at all.

"Where'd you find this at?"

Harry looked thoughtful again. "I don't remember. I Just remember finding it and trying to look at it before we left for the zoo."

"Hmm, maybe it's something you have to study for. We can look at the library for anything looking the same."

"Yeah, lets copy some of these down and we can find anything that matches it."

Just as Harry was getting pencils from the drawer and Dudley was getting paper to trace with, Petunia opened the door and stood stock-still, staring at the book spread open on the floor.

"WHERE did you get that, and HOW did you open it!" She growled. Harry jumped about a foot in the air and Dudley spun around all-too-quickly, losing his footing and falling face-first into the bed's headboard.

"I don't remember, and all I did was just…open it." Harry said.

"Close it and give it to me…NOW!" she practically yelled.

Harry handed over the book and Auntuney practically ran to her room. "Look what they got into Vernon. They actually OPENED it."

Harry, who followed her into the room, saw Vernon lose about five shades of pigment. Vernon looked over at Harry and just shook his head.

"It's time to tell them. Whether they have it or not doesn't matter, even squibs know."

"It's too soon Vernon; they still haven't done anything yet."

Harry, lost for words, looked on in his usual sense of curiosity. Dudley finally made a peep from behind Harry, asking a question predictable enough.

"Done what, have what?"

Petunia turned to them, shook her head, and just answered in the simplest way. "Not tonight, we will talk tomorrow."

Vernon, as smart as he is, backed his wife. "Don't worry about it until tomorrow. We'll talk tomorrow. Goodnight kids."

Harry and Dudley trudged to their beds, with a sad expression on both of their faces. Harry for lack of satisfied curiosity; Dudley for lack of answers. One way or another, they would find out what was going on.

A/N: vocab: gotta: (should be obvious) = got to.

Hafta = have to

So, this one didn't really answer much, but itll get to that next chapter. Im not really good at planning anything unless its work or schedules, so im literally free-writing all of this.

Changes from 'cannon' in this chapter that wasn't in the book or the first chapter: dudley's side of things…if you don't know what it is, youll know next chapter.


	3. Chapter 3: Changing Tides

Chapter 3: Changing Tides

To say that Harry and Dudley both woke up expecting some form of answers would be a drastic understatement. Both were awake at 6a.m., just waiting for their wake-up discussion to start. Unfortunately, this meant that they would have to wait for another hour or two for their uncle/dad and aunt/mom to wake up and start explaining things.

This would take too long for either of them, so they both did something they didn't know how to really do all that well; make coffee and breakfast, and wake up the adults without excessive noise.

Dudley started on plans to wake up his mom and dad without getting grounded or yelled at, while Harry started on breakfast. They both knew that Petunia usually did breakfast, then coffee, so that's what Harry started doing.

A carton of eggs, a pound of scrapple, and a dozen sausages later, Dudley started to wake the adults. They both agreed that the best way would be to have freshly-brewed coffee in their hands when they did.

Carefully carrying the mugs of coffee up the stairs, without tripping, took considerable concentration neither knew they had. With the aroma of the best coffee, at least to them, to aid them, they shook the still-sleeping adults awake.

"MMMnnnnn. What's with the early alarm Vernon."

"Don't ask me, I got the same thing." Then realization and their memory aided them in shocking them awake.

"No way. You two are awake, and I smell coffee and breakfast."

"Pinch me Vernon, I think I'm still sleeping."

"You're not, and we made this for a reason." Harry finally spoke up.

"Oh, yeah, forgot for a minute." Vernon was shrugging himself out of bed.

"We'll be down in a minute, wait at the table for us."

"Okay, don't take too long, it'll get cold soon" Dudley said.

Five minutes later and they were all at the table, eating in awkward silence. The constant stares and the shrugging shoulders didn't help, neither did the awkward glances Dudley and Harry were giving each other.

"Okay, let's get this over with." Vernon started.

"Harry, do you remember when you asked how you came to live with us, and we told you your parents weren't able to live with you?" Harry nodded, knowing that he asked that question every year until he turned seven. Something told him his parents went through something, but didn't just "give up" on him like some of his adopted classmates' parents did.

"Well, that is because they were actually unable to. Harry, I don't like bad news, you know this; your parents were killed."

That shocked expression, full of remorse and pity, flashed across his face for a moment, then changed to anger.

"Who killed them. Was it a car crash or something?" Harry asked, knowing that for some reason, it was worse.

"No, honey. They were good people, and they were standing up for other people against a bad person. That bad person was angry, and he killed them. We were spared only because what your parents did before he came after them made him not know about us; and you. You were truly loved by your parents. They made it so that the bad man could not hurt anyone else again. But the bad man's followers could, so we were helped by some of your parents' friends. What they did was selfless, and honorable, and without those involved, the bad people could come for you as revenge."

"So, my parents were so good, that they helped other people, even when they could've just ran away; and that got them killed?"

"Yes. Your dad was a Hero, and your mom was a Savior. Not to just you, but to many others. More people than you know can now live in peace because of what your parents did. Do you remember that strange guy? The one that shook your hand when we were walking down the street last year?" Vernon was talking more than Harry was used to, and it kind of made him even more curious. He didn't even talk this much at his "business dinners."

"Yeah, he had a weird name, and was wearing weird clothes."

"I remember him, Diggle or something, right?" Dudley asked.

At a nod as an answer, Auntuney continued. "That was one of your father's friends. He was in a group that helped fight against this bad man."

Curiosity getting the best of him, Harry asked a few questions that not a single person thought he'd ask. "Did one of them have a motorbike? Or did one of them have a black dog? I kept having dreams about that a few years ago. I thought it was a weird dream, but now I don't know anymore."

Vernon looked over and nodded. "Hagrid had a bike, but I don't know about the dog. No one mentioned it. Hagrid was the one that first dropped you off."

"There was a man that delivered a note with you, and it didn't explain much. At the time, I was angry at your mother for leaving the family, and for not talking to any of us ever since she was thirteen. That was partly my fault though." Petunia said, looking even more sad than Harry or Dudley had ever seen her.

"What happened? Why did she leave everyone?"

"When we were growing up, some things happened. Weird things. Things that should have been impossible, but I saw it happen, more than once, and was freaked out about it."

At that, Harry and Dudley both shared a quick, knowing glance. Vernon missed it, but Petunia didn't. "What is it? Did something happen to you Harry?"

Dudley, finally in this 'loop' involving his mom's side of the family, spoke up. "Yeah, last year. Harry was getting chased by some bullies that were making fun of Piers. One minute he was behind the school with a few on both sides, the next he was up on the roof. I thought I saw him move, but I thought he was going for one of the guys, but he was on the roof after a second. We thought our minds were playing tricks on us."

"I remember, you came home and told us about it." Petunia said.

"I thought you guys were exaggerating; I guess you weren't." Vernon added.

"Well, then there was this past week, when we were at the creek. We were playing in the water and didn't wanna come home all wet, so we were going to dry off in the sun. But then Dudley was dry after a minute. He told us, then I tried it. I don't know how, but we were dry in a minute. Then we did the same thing to Piers and Penelope."

"I knew I wasn't imagining it. I told you I saw them in the creek." Vernon laughed.

"Wait, you said Dudley did something first?" Petunia was now confused. She isn't like her sister, so how did Dudley do something her sister could? She would have to invite Minerva over soon. Something was wrong. Or just weird. Either way, something was different.

"Okay, I know you guys are getting curious now, so I will have to cut to the chase. You know in all those fairy tales you used to read, where people could do things normal people couldn't? Magic spells, enchantments, and stuff like that?" Both of the nine-year-olds nodded. "Well, that was magic. I know it told you that in the stories, but what it didn't tell you is that those characters were based off of real people. Real people, with real magic. Something that Harry and Dudley can now, apparently, do."

This floored them, if their faces were anything to go by. Vernon and Petunia were now outright laughing on the inside, but only showed a smirk to the kids. Someone more knowledgeable would have to come over and explain more, but they could at least give them the basics, right? The glance that her husband just gave her told her all she needed. Minerva or someone would be invited before school starts.

After a minute, Dudley gained a new expression first. "What do you mean 'apparently;' Harry isn't 'apparently' so that means I normally wouldn't be able to do this "Magic" Stuff?"

"That is something even we don't know about. Harry had two magical parents, so it would make sense for him to be able to do magic, but I don't have magic, and neither does your father. This is something we have to ask about; which reminds me…Harry." Harry slowly looked up to Auntuney. "There is a close friend of your mother and father that we talked to when you first came here. It was her that told us what we could and couldn't tell you, at first, and helped us understand a few things. When you first came here, the note only told us that your mom and dad died, and that you would have to stay here to be "safe." It didn't tell us almost anything else, so we went to the only place I knew of to get ahold of these people for more answers."

"What, where?" Harry asked.

Petunia, hoping to light up the mood a little, chuckled. "Guess."

Dudley spoke first "the library!" Vernon laughed, shaking his head.

"Guess again, Harry?" Petunia noted.

"Uh, the bank?" Harry guessed.

"No, the post office." Petunia almost laughed at the mysterious expression on both of their faces.

"Why the post office? That makes no sense" Harry said.

"Well, they have a spell on all post offices; it transfers any letters to anyone not normal to those people. Remember us telling you that your letters will always get to Santa? Well that is one of the people that gets letters like that. The Headmaster of the school your mom and dad went to is another. After that, they have a few others, but most of them are delivered by owls. His name is Dumbledore, and he is…. interesting." Vernon said somewhat politely.

"Interesting? He's a magician, how couldn't he be interesting" Dudley commented.

"I don't know, I think they like to be called Wizards and Witches, right?" Harry looked to his Aunt for an answer.

"Yes. Witches and Wizards, to start out as. Your dad, though, was starting to become a warlock, and your mom a sorceress."

Vernon decided now was a good enough time to ask what needed to be asked. "Do you want to meet with your mom and dad's friend? The one that explained some of this to us?"

Harry looked down for a moment before thinking to himself. "Yeah, but can they meet with Dudley too? He can do the same thing as me too, right?"

"Of course; do you want to write a letter, or should I write it?" Auntuney asked.

"Can we all do it?" Harry asked.

"Definitely" Vernon said.

A/N: uh, yeah, I don't really know what to say….ill just say that I actually do pay attention to what people write as comments, reviews, etc.  
im not a fan of "pure flames" but ill take all the criticism in stride. Useless comments will be ignored, and redundant ones will too. (those are the ones that say crap like "this is okay" or "hmmm/umm, okaaayyy" these serve no purpose other than to confuse the hell outta me)

That being said, I have amazingly thick skin, and its REALLY hard to actually offend me or piss me off… comments like "This is crap, give up writing loser" or something like that will just get ignored…im not really a writer, and this takes up some of my time… might as well try, WITH an ending… I don't give up easily at all….

Also, im not much of a responder/thanker…im more of the person that thanks people as a whole, and will always be thankful for however many people read this… one reader is the same as a thousand readers to me…so, yeah….. if I get a million readers, its cool, but ill only stop if 70% or more are saying my story sucks…. Then ill prolly just end up finishing the story in like 2-3 short chapters and still writing the rest my own way…just not posting it until im done, then itll be all at once, in however many chapters it takes.


	4. Chapter 4: Interesting Conversation

Chapter 4: Interesting Conversation

The next day, Harry got up extra early and started on his part of a letter to this person that knew him parents. Writing down his thoughts on paper made more sense, but as the list grew, some of the topics and questions got crossed off. Simple things really, but the important ones were still at the top. As curious as a nine-year-old can get, Harry's improved intellect helped him sort out some of the more redundant questions. 'What is the school mom and dad went to,' 'how many friends did my mom and dad have,' and 'why haven't some of these friends ever come to visit' were a few of the ones that were crossed off. After a moment of thinking about it, he thought of a well-reasoned answer to these. His parents' friends wouldn't come because of these "protections" that helped hide Harry and his family from the bad people. The school would most likely be answered in the first five minutes whether he asked it or not, and harry didn't care how many friends his parents had; what mattered was that they had friends.

An hour after Harry finished his list, Dudley came in Harry's room, practically bouncing with excitement. His own list was more spread-out than Harry's, but also had different questions altogether. The first one on the list, predictably, was 'am I a Wizard' closely followed by 'how am I a Wizard, when I don't have Wizard parents.' That last one, Harry could easily see, since he had the same kind of question, just phrased differently to ask how people can be wizards or witches, instead of just Dudley being a wizard.

Today was, after all, the day they would both meet this "cat-lady that isn't weird" as Petunia put it. The only other two people they knew that were obsessed about cats were Old Lady Figg one street over, and the next-door neighbor, who owned fifteen cats, and had no family to live with her. Vernon always said not to bother her, and that she was a sad person because she lost her family. Apparently, Harry also got the feeling that the cats helped her not be as sad as she could've been. Both Dudley and Harry agreed, after realizing this, that cats were the best pets ever.

After breakfast, with lists in hand, Harry and Dudley let the adults in the room look at the questions, and after a few minutes of looking over them, got them back without a single mark on the papers. Normally, Harry or Dudley would've expected a question or two to be crossed off or corrected, but this was not the case. For the first time in years, their curiosity would be appeased.

For the first hour of waiting, time passed slow enough for Harry to notice that there were, in fact, exactly sixty seconds in a minute; after double- and triple-checking, of course. Dudley got to count minutes for the first time, and Vernon had never seen his son so focused on something for so long at once. Collectively, the whole family was counting down the last fifteen minutes that marked the agreed upon time. Yup, fifteen minutes until this "Cat-lady" would ring the doorbell. Only fiftee-no, fourteen minutes. Time is really starting to count now. Yeah, fourteen left.

"GOD! Can't you go any faster?" Harry practically yelled at the clock.

Dudley was secretly thinking the same thing, and whether it was solely for that reason, the last thirteen minutes seemed to speed up to an almost instantaneous blink. Finally, 11:30 was here, and the millisecond the hand struck the "6" placement, the bell finally rang.

Harry, in his focused glare, forgot that he was supposed to get the door first, so Dudley got up and opened the door.

Standing at a giant's height was this woman in old-ish 1900's clothing, with a hat in the middle of summer. It was already 90 degrees he told himself. "Must be magic" he thought.

At least, he thought he thought it. A soft chuckle made him realize that he said his thoughts aloud without realizing it.

"Sorry, ma'am. Won't you come in for lunch?"

"It would be my pleasure" was her response.

Not a second foot inside the threshold she spotted the most familiar person in 'her world' and the brightest green eyes she had laid eyes on.

"You have your mother's eyes, but they outshine hers by a tone or two. How have you been Harry?" The world's widest smile was all she got in return.

Harry was thinking of saying something, anything, to this mysterious woman, but all he could do was smile and shyly take his seat on the couch. Dudley sat next to him, while the woman sat in the remaining chair. Fortunately, the woman was kind enough to introduce herself, breaking the awkwardness of primary introductions.

"My name is Minerva McGonagall, and I teach transfiguration at Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I have been told that there have been some recent, unexpected…developments" she finalized, after thinking of an appropriate word.

"Yes, I knew Harry would be most probably, but Dudley has shown the same set of…uniqueness, that normal children wouldn't be expected to have." Petunia informed Minerva.

"Well, how about you tell me what happened, and I can see if I can answer some questions." She missed the whole family's smirks at her last statement, but continued to listen to the stories about what happened in the past. As she continued to listen, possibilities and theories started to sprout, wither, and cancel each other out as the tale continued.

After a whole hour of listening to the tale, theories, and random thoughts of the family, she signaled to them all that she had something to say. The children ignored any signals made by Vernon and Petunia, but by some kind of magic, they immediately stopped talking once Minerva's hand was raised; though it was only raised less than an inch from her lap. This alone got the attention of Petunia, who smirked in remembrance when she remembered Lily repeating the result some thirty years ago.

"I believe I can shed some light on a few of the possibilities. First off, Harry: you have two magical parents, both with a lineage of magical ancestors for the past ten generations or so. In light of this, the chances of you not manifesting some form of accidental magic before the age of 11 would be 'slim-to-none.' The only reason you would not, would be if you were born a squib. Squibs are born to any sort of magical heritage, but the chances dwindle with more…variation. This means that, in light of your heritage, you had less than one-millionth of a percent of being born a squib. Dudley, however, is more of a mystery. Not all children of half-blood parents are born with powers, such as your mother, Petunia. Lily and Petunia are half-sisters, although I doubt they considered one another anything less. Lily had a different mother than Petunia, who was of magical descent. Your grandfather, however, was what we call a 'Muggle.' Due to this, Dudley would only have about a 25% chance of being a wizard; at least statistically speaking. Realistically, there would be less than a 10% chance of Dudley manifesting any magical powers. That being said, I believe that Dudley has surpassed statistics, and become a muggle-born wizard. Congratulations are in order, I believe."

This effectively shut the whole family up. Everyone was now staring at Dudley with different expressions. Harry with confusion, Vernon with anticipation, Petunia with a mild smirk, and Minerva with suppressed curiosity. Finally, the one person not really involved broke the silence.

"So, what you're saying is… … Dudley can still go to the same school as me?"

At this, everyone looked at Harry, who shrugged. Less than a second later, a "Is that a Yes?" was heard from Dudley. Vernon started the chain of laughter, ending with Minerva. After a few minutes of nervousness and laughter, Minerva nodded her head at both of the children.

"Yes, but this means you must call me 'Professor' or 'Professor McGonagall' once school starts. I daresay, it will be entertaining to have you attend in a few years. The twins should get a kick out of this, if nothing else."

"Twins?" Harry asked.

"Twins that will be attending Hogwarts starting this year. I delivered their acceptance letter earlier this week, and have taught their elder brothers. I believe you will be able to meet them once you shop for school supplies."

"Minerva, I apologize in advance, but the boys have some other questions to be asked. I think that most of them you already answered, but there was still a few on their lists that I remember." Once Vernon stopped speaking, Minerva looked to the boys, who then turned over their lists.

Looking at the lists, some of their questions were, indeed, already answered. A few on Harry's list were crossed out, which made her a bit curious, and a few more that weren't, but only the Headmaster would be able to safely answer.

"Well, I can answer a few on Harry's list, and a few on Dudley's, but quite a number of them can only be answered by the Headmaster."

"Headmaster? Who is that?" Dudley nervously asked.

"Headmaster Dumbledore. He is one of the most influential warlocks, and an honorable human being. You may meet him eventually, but I believe Hagrid will be of more help to Harry. For starters though, Dudley, you mention 'hidden things and places' on here. Is there any reason for that?"

"Well, when we were five, we went to the zoo. We kind of got lost, and from what I remember, mom and dad weren't there when we were 'found' by one of the zoo workers. When we turned to him, I remember seeing him wearing strange clothing, kind of like yours, but brighter, and after that, we both woke up on the benches."

"You remember that?" Vernon sounded genuinely shocked to hear his son remembered something from four years ago, let alone something even he didn't see happen.

"Yeah, but there was something else, something that didn't make sense. Before we went in, I heard mom say something about 'can't be real dragons, they don't exist anymore.' When I turned around, I saw Harry heading down this fake-looking tunnel, like there was a sheet of glass in front of it, and the sign said 'Dragons-Beware' on it. But when we woke up, there wasn't a tunnel or trail, and the sign then said something about it being an off-limits area."

At this revelation, Minerva was actually confused. There were no areas near here that held dragons, and the closest area being close to the French border.

"Where was this zoo at?"

Looking at her husband, Petunia answered "Southampton, next to the English Channel."

"Ah, that might explain it. Until recently, Dragon transport stations were more common in muggle zoos close to areas with water or mountains. This must have been one of the Stations that transported to Spain or Belgium. This was stopped in 1988, when a Muggle child stumbled across one…of the…sites; when did you say this happened?"

"Um, I think it was 1987" Vernon answered.

"That must've been the trigger; the chances of it being a different person or family would be astronomical."

Realization suddenly hit the rest of the family. While Petunia was remembering an incident when Lily came home for a holiday, the rest of the family were wrapping their heads around this bit of new information.

"Wait, dragons are REAL? As in, roaming the land, feasting on cows and lambs" Vernon practically had his eyes bulging out of his head as he asked this.

"Why yes, but it is a far cry from all that 'roaming the land' you were referring to; there are now campgrounds, where professionals care for, watch over, and protect these almost-extinct dragons from 'roaming' as you put it. Romania has one, Bulgaria has one, England has one, as do France, Spain, and Scotland. After that, I am not sure how many there are, but last time I was curious, there were one hundred and forty-eight known and documented campgrounds in the world. There may be more undocumented ones, officially anyways, but those wouldn't be as reliable. It takes six years to train a graduate enough to feed a dragon, let alone care for one."

"Okay, so…next question; one of Harry's, if you could."

"Hmm, I believe one of the only ones I could actually answer at the moment would be one of the crossed-off questions. I am curious, why did you cross off a question about your parents' friends?"

At this Harry looked up and grinned. "If my parents had friends, that's all I could ask for. It doesn't matter how many they had, just that they had people they could call their friends."

"That is all well-to-do, but aren't you curious as to where these friends are, or why they never visited you?"

"Yeah, but Auntuney told me that Dumbledore and you put protection around us and the family house, making bad people go away and for us not to be noticed. Wouldn't that keep everyone away too?"

"Normally, it would. But these protections are a little bit different. Instead of keeping everyone away, these protections only kept away those that wished anyone harm. This does not exclude those that wish someone you do or don't know harm. Magic, in some ways, doesn't take into account directions, or specifics, but intent, willpower, and purpose. I believe, however, what kept your parent's friends away, despite their intentions, was fear, respect, and the wish for you to have a normal childhood. I knew and taught your parents, but I wouldn't consider myself a close friend."

"If you come all this way, and tell us all this stuff, I think my mom and dad already consider you a true friend."

This had the effect Minerva wasn't expecting. A quickly covered response is what saved her from tearing up and sobbing, as she had done the first day Harry had arrived. Granted, this family was far different than what she had seen that first day, but it was still soul-wrenching to realize that a child, less than a year old, had lost his parents on account of a raving lunatic.

After a few more minutes of conversation, the day was trudging to an end, and the Dursley Family realized it was time for Minerva to return to her home. With wishes to contact her, via Muggle post or Owl-post, Minerva McGonagall returned to Hogsmeade, just in time to see Dumbledore entering the Three Broomsticks. This foretold both persons that their conversation would be heavy, but hopeful.

Things returned back to normal for the Dursley Family, and after a hardly-harsh warning that Harry and Dudley cannot reveal anything about magic to Muggles, everyday life returned to normal. The neighbor was still a lonely cat-lady, Old Lady Figg still carried baskets with at least five cats in it wherever she went, Piers and Penelope still hung out with Harry and Dudley, and Vernon and Petunia dealt with everyday life.

On the more hopeful note, Harry and Dudley had finally realized they would be having a blast as school; that is, until eleven, then they would leave their friends and attend Hogwarts. What's worse, they never even got to ask or figure out where this magic school was. They would just have to wait until they get their acceptance letters the year after next.

A/N: I realize that there may be some questions, so just lay it on me.

That being said: No, I will NOT reveal what memory Petunia was thinking about…. No, I will NOT say anything about the 'stranger' or the 'stalker' from the zoo, and yes, some other things had been changed…

Things changed: Petunia and Lily being half-sisters (obviously)….i planned on this already, just didn't know how to phrase it or bring it up until I was already writing it…as I said before, I am free-writing this whole thing…meaning I'm typing and only correcting sentences…

The twins SHOULD be in the same year as cannon, as far as I know, harry was 2 years behind them (since they were year 7 in Harry's 5th, when toad-face was there) so if not, that's what changed….

Also, Bill is going to be a year ahead of cannon, and Charlie is going to be a year ahead also. He will be graduating this year, I believe, in cannon, so he will have already graduated last year. Bill will have been out of school for 3 years now, instead of 2 like in cannon. You will understand why in like 20 chapters…lol.

The rest of the Weasley family will stay the same except for Ginny. Ginny will be a year ahead of Ron, I don't know why, I just thought of it. I guess my typing will tell you later.

Ps: yes, im that kind of person that doesn't know what he will type until its already typed…. My dreams are awesome for some reason, and they happen the same way, so why shouldn't my writing…..and if my grades in English (I go to college, passed ENG-151 with a 97% YaY) have anything to say, I have written every essay for that class and 101 in less than an hour each….still never got below a 90 on any of them….and my classmate HATES me for it. He spends 3-4 hours on each draft, gets a 75-77…I spend the 30 minutes before class starts writing it and get a 90-99 on it. (I suck at grammar, usually get something wrong, but not much)

So, thanks to anyone who reads this…. I might call on you guys for some opinions later, but no promises :D

Actually, now that I think about it, I do need your guys' help… my summary needs work…a lot of work…. I don't plan on spoilers, but I plan for it to say something like: Harry grows up like a normal kid, with a normally loving family, even having a "good childhood." What happens to his future when most things that could've been worse weren't?"

Im horrible at summaries, so I need help on them, lol.

Oh, before I forget… there WILL be AU/made-up characters…Penelope being the first most obvious, since she's mentioned a lot in here.


	5. Chapter 5: Beginning of Something Else

Chapter 5: Beginning of Something "Else"

For the past year and a half, Dudley and Harry had both had the same attitude towards school, playing with friends, and conversations with others. That last one might seem strange, but then again, these boys were not "normal" by some standards. They had a secret, and a slight slip could end their future plans before they even began. They were Wizards, and in another three months, they would be leaving their only three friends behind, only being able to visit during the summer or holidays. This was because their three friends, Piers, Penelope, and Margret, were not wizards or witches, and would be attending the schools Harry and Dudley would have been enrolled in, had their innate magical abilities not shown themselves. Margret was a new addition, only a new friend for the past year, but this past year had been more adventurous than any of the previous years combined.

Piers had finally caught up with Harry and Dudley's routine, being able to actually attend classes with them. Penelope was catching up, but being two years younger, skipping four grades would be a bit much. Penelope's best friend had been more active lately, and had started to socialize with others more. Margret was a year older than Penelope, but in the same grade as Piers. Growing up, she mostly kept to herself, reading for 90% of her spare time, and spending the days reading new novels those in her class couldn't hope to keep up with. With the graduation of middle school and entering high school, things needed to change. Since their first meeting, all five kids got along effortlessly. From the start of the day until dinner time, the four were inseparable, and nothing anyone did could have changed that. Teachers, relatives, bullies…not a single one could make them feel any less happy than at any time of the day.

That being said, two of these children were sad at the end of the school year. Harry and Dudley had come to the conclusion that there was no way they could hide their school plans anymore. So, with a heavy heart, they told their friends that they wouldn't be in the same school system next year, going to a foreign boarding school instead. Piers and Penelope were the most upset, Margret not far behind them. To think that their two best friends were leaving, and wouldn't see each other for nine months at a time was sad, to say the least.

So, Harry woke up today not as happy as he should have been. Dudley's birthday passed, and Harry's was today. But their friends would be coming over, so he should be happy right? Not today. Something was bothering him, but he couldn't tell what it was, just knew that it was there in the back of his mind.

"Morning Harry, Happy Birthday." Dudley was just as somber as Harry was apparently.

"Yeah, thanks. You still have your letter right?"

"Yeah, it's in my trunk. You should get yours today right?"

"Should be here right in time for breakfast" Auntuney said from behind the door. She had heard the last sentence, but knew what they were talking about as soon as the word 'letter' appeared.

"Thanks Auntuney, we'll be down in a minute." Harry said.

"What's wrong with us, it's your birthday and we can't even be happy about it. Maybe the gang will be happy at school even when we're away most of the year."

"I doubt it. They are prolly just as bad as we are." Harry showed his current facial expression to Dudley to support his claim.

"Well, they should be here soon. Better get ready for them."

At that, they left the room and headed downstairs. Vernon was sitting on the couch in the living room, coffee mug in hand and the paper half-way on his lap. On the cover was something strange, that Harry hadn't seen before. The photo on the cover was _moving._

"Why is that picture moving? Has it always done that?" Dudley seems to have noticed it too.

"Yeah, it's the wizard's paper. It came with your letter, Harry. Funny owl wouldn't leave until I gave him a pound; as payment for delivering I think."

Petunia came into the living room at this time and answered "Yeah, I signed us up for the Prophet so we can keep ourselves updated on the going on's in the wizards' world. Only got one paper so far though."

"Must be because they thought it was weird to get the request in muggle post" Vernon seems to have caught onto what happened.

Harry and Dudley were almost finished their breakfast when they heard a knock on the kitchen's back door. Only Piers and Penelope did that, but the shadow was too tall to be one of them. "Mom, there's someone at the back door, but it can't be Piers or Penelope yet; they're too tall too."

"Yeah, and they said they won't be here 'til lunch." Harry added.

Petunia was about to get up to get the door when she heard Vernon grunt "I'll get it, relax a little bit."

Vernon looked through the curtains, but didn't recognize who was standing at the back door. He didn't look like a Wizard, but he didn't look like someone he ever saw either. With nothing to do, he opened the door a tiny bit and asked "Who are you?"

"My name is Hagrid; I was told to use this door by Dumbledore; said I'd attract too much attention at the front."

"Well, come on in. If Dumbledore sent you, you must be here for Harry or Dudley?"

"Aye, I'm here to bring you all to Diagon Alley. Dumbledore wasn't sure if you knew where to go or where to shop at, so he sent me to make sure no one got lost"

"I remember you, you were the one at the station; Lily told me about you before." Petunia suddenly remembered.

Hagrid had a sad expression for a split-second, but the next he was grinning from ear to ear. "You have certainly changed from how you were when you was little. Less grumpy."

A smirk was Auntuney's response, and Vernon chuckled a bit. Hagrid walked over to Harry and Dudley, looking over them for a few seconds. After a whole minute of looking both of them over, Harry looked up and said "You knew my mom and dad?"

"Aye, two of the greatest people in their generation. That reminds me, there is someone who wants to meet you, but he told me to keep it a surprise. He will meet you in Diagon Alley, if you want."

"Was he a friend of my mom and dad too?"

"He was, and your Aunt knows him too."

Auntuney looked surprised for a second before retreating into her memories. After a whole minute of thinking, she couldn't remember actually meeting anyone that she could say she knew from that world. To say the least, she was clueless.

"Don't worry, he's not a bad person, but he said he had to say something to you all." Hagrid paused for a little bit before thinking of something. "Are you doing anything today for your birthday? I have a few other things to do; didn't know if you wanted to head to London today or later."

Harry looked over to Auntuney, who glanced back before saying "I don't know if we can do it today. Harry has his party and some friends will be over for a few hours. We can go Friday if you want?" Harry's face told her all she needed to know. Friday would be perfect.

"Alright, Friday then." Glancing over at Harry, he added "I'll see you in two days, Happy Birthday Harry."

 _Two hours later_

Harry was somewhat anxious to meet one of his parents' friends, but for now, having fun with his other three friends took precedence. They started off with a simple song of 'Happy Birthday' and ice cream, then had a few gifts passed over. A watch from Piers, a book from the Wheel of Time series from Penelope, and Margret got him a new set of fancy pens and pencils. Auntuney got him new clothes (of course she would, he told himself) and Vernon got him some books he thought he would need. He was told not to open them here though, they were for school, and the others shouldn't see them. The best gift was from Dudley though. Harry figured he must have asked someone about what he would need most for school, because in a fancy redwood case was the nicest Calligraphy set Dudley could have found. Harry's handwriting had been improving, and almost a year ago, Dudley had seen Harry looking at a cheap set on the way home from the library.

"Dudley, this is just…awesome. How did you know I would use this though?"

"I saw you looking at a set or two last year."

Petunia positively gleamed at her son in the background. It was her that told Dudley that she remembered Lily complaining about 'those darn quills' when she was going to Hogwarts years ago.

"Thanks, I don't know how much I'll be able to use this, but I like it" Harry told Dudley. Behind them, they didn't notice the funny faces Piers, Penelope, and Margret were giving each other. When the last gift was getting ready to be opened, Piers looked over at the note on the box. Quickly reading it, he showed it to Harry, before the first tear could be made.

"Harry, Happy birthday, and I hope your childhood was as good as I imagined it being." Harry read aloud. "There's no name." He flipped the card over, hoping for a name on the back or something, but what he read to himself made him just as surprised. Instead of a name was the words "DO NOT OPEN UNTIL SCHOOL STARTS" in big, bold, letters, each letter was either red, green, yellow, or blue. Puzzled, he looked over at everyone.

"What is it?" Vernon asked.

"I don't know, but it says to wait to open it"

"What? Til when?" Dudley was now curious, Harry could tell.

"Til school starts, it says."

"Well, maybe it's something for school. We can put it in your trunk until then. It'll be another surprise. No name though?" Auntuney asked.

"Not a one" was the response.

Another hour of playing around, and everyone started to head home. Piers and Penelope said they would come by in a few days and visit, they were heading up north for something their mom and dad had to do before school started, and Margret was going to finish her book series she was currently obsessed with.

And so, the rest of their week continued as it normally would. However, when the Friday post came in the morning, there was a glowing envelope that drew everyone's attention. "It's addressed to Dudley." Vernon said after taking a quick glance at it.

"Why me? Shouldn't it be Harry's letter?" Dudley asked.

"I guess, but it clearly says your name on it." Harry looked closer at the letter, and noticed that the name was either foreign or not human. Well, what would you expect from a glowing letter.

"Attention Mr. Dudley Dursley. It has come to our attention that, due to unprecedented events, we at Gringotts invite you for a meeting with the Account Services Representative. This is due to the matters concerning your admittance into Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We await your owl concerning availability.  
May Gold be forever in your favor,  
Giltooth  
Gringotts Head of Muggle-Born Account Services"

"What does that mean?" Harry asked. "I think I didn't get one only because I don't count as 'Muggle-Born' just muggle-raised, right?"

"Yeah, Lily had one like this, but the envelope didn't glow at all. Maybe it's a new thing they do."

"Well, it looks like Dudley will be starting his very own account." Vernon said approvingly.

Petunia and, weirdly enough, Harry both looked up at the clock.

"11:00, Hagrid should be here soon" Harry spoke.

"Well, you boys get ready then. I don't think you will need that much, just your lists I think." Vernon was already starting to get up and get his own stuff ready for Hagrid to come knocking on the back door.

At 11:30 exactly, a softer knock than before sounded through the kitchen. Opening the door to Hagrid's large form made the family grin once again. "All ready? Good, Let's take the bus, it'll be easier."

Forty minutes later, the boys were standing next to a shining bookstore. They noticed the shine and was about to ask about it, but Hagrid kept walking, right into it. A single blink later, and the boys spotted a strange-looking man behind a counter, and what looked like a shabby bar-and-grille. As they turned around, they noticed people walking past the 'book store' without going in, or noticing it at all.

"It has wards and protections on it so that Muggles don't accidentally walk in here. Some would think they were insane, and others wouldn't believe it; so we kept it as-is and let them be. Anyone that does notice the real place is either a Witch, a Wizard, or a relative of a witch or wizard. Statute of Secrecy and all." Hagrid said from behind them.

"Oh, that makes sense" Harry said.

"Well, let's keep going, lots more to see and do. You guys want to go to Gringotts first? The meeting with Dudley isn't for another twenty minutes or so."

"Yeah, might as well. Early is better than late right?" Dudley answered.

As they walked to the back of the 'pub,' Hagrid saw someone walking behind them. So he let the man go before them, telling Harry and Dudley to pay attention to the man.

As they both looked closer, they saw him pull out a stick and tap the "knight's brick" as Auntuney told them it was called. Then the real magic started. The wall started with a crack, then a split…then before they knew it, there was a whole opening to the most active place either of them had ever seen. People were moving every which way, and the amount of signs to read above the shops astounded them both.

"Welcome, to Diagon Alley" Hagrid exclaimed.

"First time seeing it?" the strange man asked with a wink.

They couldn't say anything, so a nod was all the man got as an answer. After noticing the amazed faces, the man turned and continued with his business, with a noticeable smirk on his face as he left. They boys finally found their feet, and not for the first time, started to notice new things they didn't see a few seconds ago.

The brightest white building they could have imagined was at the _very_ far end of this 'alley' and when Dudley saw it, he asked "That's Gringotts, isn't it?"

"Yup. It's noticeable for a reason."

Walking past all the shops, Harry knew he couldn't wait to browse and see what he could find to buy. On the right side of the street was an ice cream parlor, and plans were already making their way into his head. The stone steps leading up to the doors of Gringotts were, as he now saw, pure marble. The doors had a small but noticeable sign on it with a small rhyme. As he read the rhyme, Hagrid chuckled and Dudley outright laughed. Harry kept it in mind, knowing that a robbery would be the last thing on their minds.

The first available teller just opened, and Harry stepped forward with Hagrid and Dudley in tow. Hagrid spoke first "Good morning. I am here to escort these two for business. Dudley has an appointment with Giltooth, and Harry would like to make a withdraw."

"Very well, Griphook will escort Mr. Potter; I will escort Mr. Dursley. Please wait in the guest area." The goblin said promptly.

"I'll be here boys, just find me when you get done. Should be easy."

"Okay" they answered.

*this should be obvious, but these will now overlap*

 _Harry's PoV_

As the Goblin walked forward, curiosity got the better of him. "Good morning Griphook. Are you my family's account manager?"

Griphook stood still for a few moments before once again taking a step forward. "I am. If you will follow me, I will lead you to your family's secondary Vault. After we enter the tunnel, feel free to ask any questions, but none will be answered before then."

Harry was now wondering why that was, but looking around, he heard a lot of people's conversations. Security reasons, Harry figured. Walking towards a door, which he now realized led to a very dark tunnel, the full effect of what was making him so curious hit him. There was glimmering, shining, and solid forms all around him. What looked like a regularly-mined tunnel seemed…distorted. He couldn't figure out why, but he thought he might as well ask it. They were already in the tunnel, and that was what the goblin told him.

"Griphook; I was wondering, why do some of the walls shine or glimmer, and some don't look like regular walls?"

"Very astute. All walls have layers of protections, wards, and traps for those that feel they can take what is not theirs from within. There is not a single space that does not have a combination of everything, but the difference is just placement. A section of wall that glimmers now will shine the next, and look like a hollow spot soon after."

"Wow, that's cool." After a few more seconds harry asked "Is that something I could learn to do?"

Griphook looked at him closely; very closely. "Somewhat. If you mean the exact protections used on these walls, no. Most of these protections are Goblin-Founded, and Witches and Wizards would be unable to attempt most of them; and fail to cast them at all. Only a full-blooded Goblin can cast even half of these protections. However, Witches and Wizards of a certain caliber can be skilled in casting wards, protections, and runes. We recently procured one from his graduation at a Curse-Breakers' Institution."

Harry looked appropriately appeased, for now. When they reached the end of a long ramp, and the cart stopped moving, Griphook escorted Harry to the door closest to them. There was a somewhat-familiar crest, with a definitely familiar symbol in the middle of it. He had seen that symbol before, but he couldn't figure out where.

"Is that my family's Crest or something?"

"It is, very observant, Harry."

"Do you know what that symbol is?" Harry was now pointing to the familiar symbol, but looking over his shoulder at Griphook. Had he been even slightly less observant, he would have missed the shocked expression flash across the goblin's face for less than a split-second.

"Where do you recognize that symbol from? Something recent perhaps?"

"I'm not sure; it's really familiar, but I can't remember where I saw it. Maybe Dudley would know."

"However unlikely that is, you have now obtained my interest. Should you discover where you saw that symbol besides here, I would like to also be informed." This time Harry did miss the pleased smirk on the goblin's face, for Griphook had now walked in front of Harry to swipe his finger on a certain slash on the door. "Should anyone besides myself do that, they would be in more trouble than the collective value of everything in control of Gringotts."

Harry was now intimidated. The calmness that the previous sentence was stated scared him, down to the bone. If someone was unfortunate enough to ignore that warning on the door, Harry didn't think anyone would ignore that warning. However, he was now distracted by the sheer glow of the vault now opened in front of him.

"Current rates value one Knut at .17 Euro; 29 Knuts to a Sickle, 17 Sickles to a Galleon. If requested, I can provide you with an account balance after this visit. The Potter's Secondary family vault is available to you until you are of-age, where the Primary Vault will avail itself to you at that time. Also, the Evan's Family Vault will also avail itself to you at that time." Griphook was now looking at Harry expectantly.

Harry, in his surprise, asked the only question he could think of at the moment. "How much should I need to start school with, comfortably?"

"I believe the current requirements are estimated at eleven galleons, unless you buy a familiar; familiars are usually purchased at about twenty Galleons, or thirty for the more exotic or rare species."

"Okay…" Harry paused. "How much should it usually cost for an entire Hogwarts' schooling?"

Here is where Griphook saw his theory founded. "The current rates for an entire Hogwarts' schooling, with inflation and other excess purchases, is valued at one hundred and thirty-five Galleons, or about two hundred Galleons for purchases not needed, but valuable even still." The look on Harry's face was priceless.

"And, I can apparently pay for Hogwarts about a hundred times is because…?"

"The Potter family has always been well-off; the current balance of the secondary vault is estimated at about one percent of the main family's vault."

Harry now looked at the ground, thinking about what to do, or what to say. Finally, he came to a decision. "Would you be able to tell me how much is in the Evan's or Dursley accounts?"

"I would not be able to tell you of the Dursley account, as they are not your family, in terms of being _your_ dependents. If one of them was your wife, son, or daughter, I would be able to. But as you are both an Evans and a Potter, but not a Dursley; I can transfer funds to the Evans account only."

"Can I transfer money into the Dursley account?"

"Unfortunately not."

"Then, I would like to withdraw four hundred galleons."

Griphook smirked and handed over a small bag, jingling with galleons. "Here is a magically-expanding bag. The size will stay the same on the outside, and will always fit the contents on the inside. Simply think of what you need from it, and those items will be at the top of the bag, should the contents be larger than your hand."

Harry smiled at the goblin, thanked him for helping, and returned to the cart. After a short ride to the top, Harry started looking around for Dudley and Hagrid. Seeing Hagrid and Dudley both sitting on the bench, Harry walked up to Dudley, took a handful of Galleons from the bag, and shoved it in Dudley's bag.

"What was that for?" Dudley asked.

"For family." Harry said simply.

Hagrid was looking at Harry like he had a second head; there was no way Harry just shoved about eighty galleons into another bag, that was enough to get him through third year at least. "Well, let's get going, we have all our shopping to do. Do you want to get your trunks first?" Hagrid asked them.

"Yeah, that way we aren't carrying everything around in bags or boxes."

"Okay, follow me then."

Hagrid knew his way around Diagon Alley very well, and seeing the shops was second nature to him. But with two boys following him to the other end of the street took longer than he thought it would. They kept stopping at different windows, looking at the stuff for sale inside, and talking about what they would do with whatever it was they saw. He couldn't blame them; he did the same thing when he was growing up. After an extra ten minutes of walking, they finally got to the trunk shop. Harry ended up buying a tri-layered trunk, with a self-locking charm, and the standard weightless enchantments on it. As an addition, he asked the clerk if he could get his initials on the front of it, which cost him an extra galleon. Dudley bought the same enchantments and extras, but bought a double-layered trunk; he wasn't willing to spent the twenty extra galleons on just another layer.

Outside and to the right was the wand store, Ollivander's, so that was where they went next. Upon entering, Harry felt that the shop owner was already weird, but Hagrid was used to it and it seemed that Dudley hadn't noticed. The almost-whisper of a voice, the constant staring, and the creepy way he talked didn't help much, but it changed when he saw Dudley. For some reason, when he was helping Dudley find his wand, nothing abnormal was there; like he was a whole different person. 'Maybe he acts differently depending on the person' Harry was thinking to himself. He couldn't really hold it against him, he was a stranger, in a stranger world, and was slowly getting used to things.

When it was Harry's turn to find a wand, Ollivander was flicking wands every which way, muttering about different properties, functions, and effects of different wands. "The wand chooses the wizard, after all" Ollivander was saying. After what felt like the hundredth wand, Harry saw Ollivander stop, and look at an old box on the shelf. "I wonder; could it be?" Harry heard him say.

"Is it something strange?" Harry asked.

"Not strange, just…peculiar. This wand has an extra property. Normal wands have three, while this has a fourth. If this is the wand that choses you as it's wizard, I can see incredible events in your future."

Handing over the wand, Harry took it in his hands, looked down, and felt….

Nothing. Not a single thing.

As quick as he could, Ollivander took the wand back, and attempted to find more options. After another five minutes of searching, Ollivander grabbed a box that had a wand he had almost forgotten he made. And when Harry first touched the handle, Harry felt warmth and a sort of kindness from the wand.

"Well, try it out" Ollivander told him.

With a flick of the wrist, the innate magic in Harry caused the spread-out boxes laying across the floor to pile up in the corner, all nice and tidy.

"How unusual. That wand has three properties, but all are polar opposites. I had planned on experimenting with opposites when I made that wand, but after the first and only wand, I had assumed it would never work. Congratulations Harry, the wand has now chosen the wizard" Ollivander smiled.

Hagrid looked at the now-proud owners of wands. "That was the first step to becoming a wizard. I didn't expect him to try out so many wands though."

"Yeah, I thought I tried like a hundred different wands; my arm was getting tired from all the swishing" Harry added.

"Does it usually take that long?"

"Depends, but I haven't heard of anyone trying more than twenty before finding a wand; especially not from Ollivander. He usually finds a match in less than ten." Hagrid's face was showing concern, but not enough to make anyone worry. Just like seeing a cat chase a dog; weird, but not unheard of.

A/N: not much to say…other than im not good at ending chapters, so im breaking them up almost randomly…and theyre short. I love reading long chapters, but I suck at making mine long like that…

Any comments are welcome, just not flames that burn, etc etc.


	6. Chapter 6: Unexpected Glance

Chapter 6: Unexpected Glance

With a trunk to carry all their things, and a wand neither of them could wait to use, their next set of destinations were still in sight from Ollivander's. It was now that Hagrid suggested seeing what kind of mysterious flavor choices the boys would make from all that Florean Fortescue had to offer.

"What kinds of flavors do you like" Dudley asked Hagrid.

"All kinds, but my favorite has always been chocolate and raspberry with chopped nuts. Hits all the good spots at once" Hagrid answered with his now-typical chuckle.

"Well, I always get chocolate mint, and Dudley gets either French vanilla or strawberry. I think the strawberry was for a different reason though" Harry added as an afterthought.

"Well, they have other flavors that aren't in the muggle shops as much." Hagrid pointed to the menu where flavors included pumpkin, cinnamon, candyfloss, and marshmellow. From what Harry was looking at, Dudley thought he might choose something different this time.

"Can I have a candyfloss? That sounds good" Dudley asked the shop owner.

"Of course, and for you?" He pointed the next question at Harry.

"Um, I'll just stick with Chocolate mint, thanks."

"Sure, and Hagrid, the usual?"

"You know it."

With ice cream cones, which were almost double the 'normal' size, in hand, Harry and Dudley followed Hagrid back towards the other end of the alley. On their way, they passed many shops, but most were advertising what looked like objects and materials for advanced spells, or for some other reason Harry couldn't imagine at the moment. An advanced-looking set of scales, a ring with a label, a complex-looking mirror that showed no reflections; all these were making Harry, and by extension Dudley, even more curious as they glanced around. The shop names were even more curious, and the miniature stations next to the big shops seemed to get more attention than the actual shops themselves. Well, at least some things remained normal in the wizarding world.

After the longest walk of their recent lives, Harry and Dudley suddenly spotted the book store. Here was where they would obviously buy their school books, but at the same time, why were the shelves so small? Harry thought that a book store with this many people near it, in an apparently well-known location would have a lot more books. But then, he found out why the minute he stepped in through the door. Dudley's gasp next to him as a signal, he noticed that the inside of the store was a lot bigger than it looked like it was on the outside. The shelves that looked like they were only about three feet tall with small books on it were in fact closer to thirty feet high, with humongous book on them. These were obviously books they wouldn't need for a long time, but a glance at a cover or two wouldn't spoil anything, right?

"Hagrid, why was the store so small-looking from the outside?" Dudley asked.

"Well, when you have more than just a few books to show everyone, they tried to get as many as they could, but it never showed as much as they wanted. So, with a little help from Dumbledore, they made the glass windows more like looking through a magnifying glass. That way you can see many more books, and still not have to miss any you might want to see."

With the boys thinking of the possibilities, Hagrid went to the clerk and asked for the 1st year set for two. Glancing around, he saw Harry already looking at the defensive and warding sets of books to the left, and Dudley on the other side of him, looking at a few books that he couldn't tell what they were. With the return of the store clerk, and two full sets of Hogwarts books, Hagrid helped they boys pack them into their trunks. Standing up, he glanced at the books that Dudley was browsing through.

"You're interested in the magical beasts, Dudley?"

"Yeah, a little. We went to the zoo when we were little, but they didn't have any of the hard-to-find species I was expecting. These ones look like some cool looking animals though. I thought there was really only one kind of dog though."

"That'd be a Cerberus. I had one once, but I'm letting a friend use it for a while. Deadly, they are, but the most loyal creature you'd ever find."

"You had a three-headed dog?" Harry asked.

"Had a lot more than that. You'll some of the things in that book at Hogwarts. Not the bad stuff til years from now, but a little bit here and there." Hagrid looked out into the street and saw Madam Malkin's next door. "C'mon, let's get you some robes."

Inside the strangest clothing store they had ever seen was a kind-featured woman with a sense of purpose on her face. She was currently measuring a few children, and letting her magic measuring tape measure a few more.

"That must be a hard job; measuring any more than two people at once would confuse me."

"Dudley, I doubt you would be able to measure more than just yourself, even with magic" Harry joked from beside Dudley.

"Yeah, but I can see Mom doing something like that if she could."

Hagrid, who had already gotten the attention of Madam Malkin, snickered at Dudley's expense. "She is gonna finish with those guys then measure you next. Five sets enough for you two?"

"Should be, it said three, but I'm sure two more won't hurt." Harry said.

Dudley nodded, and less than a minute he heard the woman say "Alright, you three next."

Harry and Dudley were confused for a moment before a girl walked in front of them and stood on the stool expectantly.

"Hello, I'm Hermione, Hermione Granger."

Glancing at Dudley, Harry walked up to the girl, shook her hand, and then stood on the stool next to her. "I'm Harry and this is my brother, Dudley."

"I'm a Dursley, and he's a Potter. Still brothers though" Dudley added with a slight grin and a blush.

"Potter, as in _the_ Harry Potter?" Harry nodded. "I've read about you. You're in a few books, you know."

Hagrid decided now was as good a time as any to speak up. "Yeah, but no one asked him to be in the books. Those books don't say hardly everything, either."

"Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, Modern Magical History, and Great Wizarding Events of the 20th Century?" Hermione asked skeptically.

"Not a single one of them was written by someone other than a bystander. I get my information from the ones that know what happened." Hagrid said in reply.

"Hmm, I can see that. I was just doing some background reading. I've also read Hogwarts: A history, An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe, Nature's Nobility, and Notable Magical Names of Our Time; so far at least. I have more at home, but haven't read them yet. This is my third time in Diagon Alley; you?" She finally asked.

"Uh, our first. We just got out letters a week ago." Dudley answered.

"We are prolly gonna get all the stuff we need today, then just go to the station on the 1st."

"Oh, well I was going to only get all my stuff at once, but I couldn't help it. After my first day here, I conned my parents into coming back twice more. Everything is just too much fun to explore right now."

Harry looked over at the brunette stepping off of the stool with a knowing grin. "Yeah, if it was me, I don't think I'd mind living here."

"Too much for me" Dudley said, "I'd get bored after a week of walking around. After that, I'd want to go to another Wizard town or something. And the only animals here are Owls, Cats, and a few Toads."

Hagrid silently agreed; there were too many different animals to be stuck in an area with at most ten of them.

After another minute of measuring via the magic measuring tape, the tape flopped down on the ground and Madam Malkin walked out of the back area with three sets of hangings. Handing the first to Hermione, the second to Harry, and the third to Dudley, the children followed her up to the counter to pay for their things. When Harry turned to leave, he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"Would you mind if I followed you guys around? I was going to head back and read, but since it looks like you still have a few things to look for, maybe I could come with you…" Hermione trailed off.

"Sure, if it'd alright with Hagrid. Isn't your parents around though?" Harry asked her.

"No, not for another three hours. They work at a dental office in Main Town London, and won't finish until 4."

"I don't see any problems with it. I wouldn't feel right just leaving someone in Diagon Alley alone, either." Hagrid said.

"Well then, where to next" Hermione asked.

Thinking back to what they had already, Harry mentally checked off 'books, robes, wand, trunk, money,…' Looking back at Dudley, he could see Dudley doing the same thing.

"Potion stuff" Dudley remembered.

"Oh! The apothecary is up this way." Hermione looked somewhat more excited now that it was school-related. "Wait until you see what they have; they have just about everything."

"Everything?" Harry repeated.

"Well, almost everything. Some of the stuff professionals would need aren't there; it's mainly for school children and small families. The ingredients for small injuries or daily supplies; stuff like that."

The walk itself was only about thirty seconds long, since it was only three shops down. Walking into the shop, they saw a sign with different arrows pointing to different sets.

"Take the one you need" Harry read out.

"Yeah, they have them preset for each year of schooling. 1st years' is up front, and the smallest, besides third years'. I think that's when more theory and less practical potions are involved."

"Nah, that's when most people drop the class if they don't need it." Hagrid said.

"Why, is it a really hard class?" Dudley asked. Everyone in the family knew that although he loved to eat, Dudley couldn't cook or make many things without dire consequences. How anyone could boil the yolk of an egg, but keep the egg-whites almost raw was a question beyond Harry's understanding.

"More like an impossible Professor" someone spoke up from behind them.

As they turned, they saw the tallest eleven-year-old they had ever seen. Comparing his own height of 4'3, Dudley was surprised that this kid, who was picking up a 1st years' kit, was almost 5'2 already.

"I'm Ron; I heard it all from my brothers. Professor Snape is said to be mean to anyone who isn't a Slytherin."

"You're a Weasley?" At Ron's nod, Hagrid continued; "I know your brothers. With the twins, I'd expect it, but the others got along with him alright."

"Charlie told me he never really got along with him. And Percy is just a suck-up, so he's liked by all the professors."

"Well, I hope I don't cause anyone any problems; I have enough to look forward to, being 100% muggle and all." Dudley glanced at Ron. Seeing nothing in his face, his first instinct was to think that he was the overall accepting sort of person, and that he could get along with this person.

"I just hope it's as fun as it looks like it's gonna be." Harry was looking forward to some of the defensive and protective stuff already.

As they were walking towards the door, newly-bought supplies already in their trunks, Ron managed to catch up to them, and ask an awkward question; for him at least. "Do you want to meet my family? I know Hagrid is the Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts, but I didn't know if you were here with anyone or not."

"Sure, it'd be fun; that is, as long as they don't mind" Hermione replied, pointing at Harry, Dudley and Hagrid.

"I'm game" Dudley said after looking at Hagrid and Harry.

"We just have to get our last supplies, then maybe an owl or cat." Hagrid said.

"Okay, I can look for some stuff for Scabbers; he hasn't been looking too good lately." Ron said, pulling out an incredibly old-looking rat from his pocket.

Not even looking at the rat too much, Hermione cringed, while Harry and Dudley just took note of said rat, then started following Hagrid towards the Magical Supply Store. There, they bought their ink, quills, parchment, telescope, cauldron, and some extra things to go with it. Harry bought a couple extra rolls of 'fancy parchment' for non-school related writing, and Dudley got a couple things he thought would help him have fun. Next was the magical pet store, since it was on the way back anyways. Something was a bit off though; something that got Harry curious.

"Ron, why are you alone? We're here with Hagrid, and Hermione said her parents would be back in a little while; did you escape from your mom or something?" He asked.

"Yeah, I had the twins help me get away from her. I owe them now, but it was worth it; any more smothering and I'd go insane. I don't know if he told you yet, but the twins are super-pranksters. They get away with almost anything. Only Dad really knows when they get away, but he doesn't rat them out."

After a round of giggles and chuckles, Hermione asked "Was that pun intentional?"

"Pun?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, it's kind of like a joke…" She stopped, thinking of how to phrase it.

"It's like when you use a word as a description, but the word can be used for something else too. You said 'rat him out' while holding your rat in your hand, outside." Harry added.

"Oh, is that like a muggle joke? My dad would love it." Ron thought for a moment, then added "I can see that now, it's pretty funny, actually."

As they took their last steps, landing them in front of the pet store, they noticed that there were way more owls than cats. Harry didn't care for a toad, but if he had to choose between a cat and an owl, he thought he might like a cat better. Dudley was reading into Harry's thoughts, and agreed; but these didn't look like normal cats and owls.

"Good day, students. Looking for a familiar?" Asked a witch by the desk.

"Um, yeah. Do we get to look around and choose one? Or is there some kind of catch?" Dudley was obviously more thoughtful towards animals; this just proved the point.

"Actually, yes. These animals are potential familiars. That means that, much like wands, an animal can say 'no' to being bought and owned by someone." At this, the cat next to her hissed and ran behind the stool next to Dudley. "See, that cat has never liked me, so using that as an example, I will not let you purchase an animal that does not accept you."

"That makes sense; I wouldn't want to work with someone I didn't agree with either." Hermione said, with Ron and Harry nodding in the background.

"Yeah, I don't think I'd want to own a cat that didn't like me." Harry added.

Hagrid was content to just sit back and watch as the kids went different ways, looking at the different animals. Secretly, he wished he could own a dragon, but that would be nearly impossible. After about five minutes, the same cat that ran away from the woman, did the opposite to Dudley. The cat rubbed his leg, followed him around, and purred without Dudley even touching him.

"Obviously, that cat likes you" the woman said. "Try picking him up; if he likes you, I'll give you 50% off for him."

Dudley reached down, and before he even got half way to the floor, the cat leapt up into his arms, purring once again. "Seems he does. Does this mean the cat 'chose' me?"

"Yes, but just like the animals, you can say no to them also."

"That won't be needed. I'll just carry him around until we leave, then pay when everyone has something."

Harry, who noticed the exchange but was too far away to really hear anything, started walking around again. He noticed that Ron, with Scabbers once again in his pocket, was only getting hungry eyes from the owls and cats. Giving up his search, he started to head back to the front when he heard a screech from above. Fearing the worst, he ducked his head and covered his pocket. After a good pause, he resumed breathing, and looked up. Sitting on Harry's shoulder and looking at Ron with amused eyes was the whitest snow owl he had ever seen. This one had not a spec of grey, and he could already tell that this was not a normal owl. From next to where Ron stood up at was Hermione, wearing a just-as-amused expression.

"What, I thought it was going for Scabbers. What kind of person would I be if I just let an owl eat my pet?"

"Good point." Dudley came to see what happened, but only caught the last sentence.

"Yeah, but it's good to have fast reflexes. You never know when it could be useful." Harry added. He was good at using reflexes to catch himself a lot while he was growing up. Falling from a tree or looking at a dodgeball coming for his head isn't as fun as watching someone from the other side of the mirror.

"Quidditch uses people with good reflexes; I was thinking of trying out during second year. If one of you have good reflexes, you should to. My brothers were or are on the team, all of them."

As they were all walking back to the front, they noticed Hermione didn't have an animal with her. "Nothing for you Hermione?" Ron asked.

"No, none of the animals really got close to me."

Hagrid heard the last couple minutes and said "That's okay Hermione, most people don't get a familiar til they almost graduate Hogwarts."

"Oh, well okay then; I just didn't want to be a 'typical muggleborn' or something.

As they got to the front counter, Harry and Dudley paid for their familiars and headed to where Ron was leading them to meet his family. But then something Harry heard Ron say was, once again, making him curious.

"Ron, you said your brothers play or played Quidditch, then you said 'all of them;' how many brothers do you have?"

"Um, five, and a sister, but she's still a year younger than me."

Harry was now shocked, and if the expression on Hermione and Dudley's faces was anything to go by, they were just as shocked as he was. He had one brother and it was a lot growing up; he couldn't imaging growing up with _five_ brothers, and still maintaining his sanity, let along having a younger sister too.

A/N: I saw that someone asked about Dudley being half-brother…. I mean in Harry's mind, he _is_ a brother, even if it's not 'by blood'

I dont really have that much else... just that im re-designing the idea of familiars... almost nothing im this story is goinna be "over-powered" so its not like some bond stories or something,... its just like an extra-close pet that knows what youre thinking, and that you can 'almost' talk to... (like in cannon book 3, hermione wouldve known that there was something suspicious just from crookshank's behavior, and know to ask what he thought he was doing, who wouldve paw'd at a book about animagus, or gone to a book about animagus, and stared at the book until hermione got a hint... instead of knowing nothing, as smart as she was in cannon ... lol)

that being said, if you guys catch anything else let me know...

thank you sandstorm25555 for catching that i overlapped chapters... i fixed it, so now theres six chapters, instead of 5 :D

by the way, is there a reason that there is a reply option next to some reviews but not others? that confused me, cuz i was gonna reply to one, but there was no reply button anywhere...


	7. Chapter 7: Weasley Wonder

Chapter 7: Weasley Wonder

The thought was still on Harry's mind when he reached the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron once again. For a moment, he was confused, until he saw a 'mother hen' sort of woman sitting near the other door, impatiently tapping her foot and staring right at him.

"Um, why is that woman staring at me?" Dudley asked from next to Harry.

"It's not you, she's staring at me" came the response from Ron. Ron was previously trying to hide behind Harry and Dudley, but once again his height caused a complication; it's not easy to hide behind someone that is almost a whole foot shorter than you and actually be hidden.

"Ronald Weasley, WHERE have you BEEN?!"

"Easy Molly, Hagrid is with him, so he couldn't've been up to too much trouble."

"Harry, Dudley, Hermione, meet my parents" Ron presented, pointing to the man that just spoke first. "That's my dad, Arthur; he works in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office at the Ministry. My mom is a normal housewife, and as you just heard, her name is Molly."

With hands extended, each of them introduced themselves, and explained that Ron had met up with them in in the apothecary, when they were talking about the potions class.

"From there, we invited him to come with us for our last stops; it was our first time, and as we say 'the more the merrier'." Dudley was now telling Mr. Weasley.

"Oh it's no trouble at all, I am just happy to see that Ron has made more friends; isn't that right Molly" Arthur added pointedly.

"Yes, friends, right. How did you get to the apothecary when _we_ were still in the robe shop? Oh right, it must be my imagination." Molly looked thoughtful, but those that recognized that look all shuddered; it was the look of pure sarcasm, leading to more punishment when they were home again.

"Did we hear something about stone-faced Snape, and what he calls a potions class?"

Turning and looking behind them, Harry and Dudley saw yet another tall redhead, but this one was obviously older. With a talon-style earring and a dragon tattoo on his forearm, Harry figured this was one of the already-graduated brothers.

"Charley Weasley, graduated two years ago, and I lucked out my last two years; I didn't need that class for my career, so I dropped it at the end of third year. Waste of time unless you need it or you really like potions."

"But, I thought potions would be one of the more important subjects, all the careers I looked at in 'Career Planning for the Graduating Wizard' said an OWL or higher would be needed." Hermione noted, looking at Charlie as he did.

"Well, mine does, but Charlie's doesn't. He works with dragons, and I am a Curse-Breaker for Gringotts. Hi mom, hi dad. Who are these guys, new friends of Ron's?"

"Bill, I thought you were still in Egypt?" Molly asked, ignoring the other question.

"That's my brother Bill, the oldest of us all." Ron answered the question Molly chose to ignore. "And yes, I met these guys today at the apothecary; Harry, Dudley, Hermione, and I know you remember Hagrid." Ron pointed at each one as the names were said.

"Hagrid, didn't even see you there, how are ya?"

"I don't believe that for a moment" Hagrid answered. "I was here with just Dudley and Harry, until we got a few followers."

Harry and Dudley chose to finally speak up a bit more, starting with "So, we've now met all but four of your family, right?"

"Or do you have more stashed away in a closet or something" Dudley added.

"No, the only ones left are Ginny, Fred, and George. The twins must be making sure Ginny doesn't get into too much trouble." Ron answered.

"Ginny and the twins are together? Without an adult?" Charlie looked alarmed, then glanced over at Bill, who added "The world is gonna end, everyone for themselves!" as the two oldest brothers chose to surprise everyone not family and ran around in circles, with mock-panic stricken facial expressions.

"Stop that, Ginny isn't a prankster like the twins. You're overreacting." Harry's glance told him this must be the 'middle brother' that Ron was complaining about before.

"You are Percy?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, and you all are?"

"Hermione Granger"

"Dudley Dursley, his brother"

"Harry Potter, his brother"

Percy chose to hide his surprise; from what he observed so far, Harry wasn't one for the spotlight, and seemed to shy away from saying he was ' _THE_ Harry Potter.' "Well met. You three are starting this year I assume?" At their nod he continued, "I am Gryffindor's Prefect this year; if you end up in Gryffindor, feel free to ask me for help at any time…I'm usually in the common room after dinner and at free periods."

Some snickering could be heard from the stairway off to the side. Glancing that way, Dudley saw twins with hilarity etched on their faces, and a small girl that was silently grinning from ear to ear.

"He means never, since"

"He is always"

"Studying for an"

"Exam two years in the"

"Future." The twins finished the last word together.

Ginny, for she was the only one with a girl's name left, started snickering with the twins, not even hiding her mirth a tiny bit. Harry assumed the only thing stopping her from outright laughing was that there were people she didn't know surrounding her. Percy, however, didn't look as amused. Everyone else, besides Molly, was smirking, on the border of laughing like the twins and Charlie were currently doing.

"You must be Ginny; I'm Harry, Harry Potter." Harry and Dudley were approaching her to shaker her hand in greeting, but Ginny's response stopped them in their tracks. With a heavy flop, Ginny feinted as soon as she heard 'Potter.'

"You killed her!"

"How could you,"

"Our baby sister, and she still"

"Hasn't been able to"

"Get sorted into"

"Gryffindor!"

With a grunt and a muffled 'stupid,' Ginny was starting to get up.

"Only kidding Harry,"

"We knew she wasn't dead."

"Could've been though,"

"If she was at"

"The top of the"

"Stairs."

Harry couldn't tell who said what, or which one was on which side of Ginny, but he knew he was going to like these twins. The psychic way they talked was amusing, and if they were as big of pranksters as Ron was saying, Harry didn't think he'd ever be bored at Hogwarts.

Another minute later and Ginny was too-quietly apologizing to everyone. Hermione recognized a hero-crush, and silently told herself to help Ginny either develop or get over this crush.

"Boys, enough; it's getting late, and we still have to get ready for dinner. And remember, the Lovegoods' are coming over, so no roughhousing with Luna. I swear, one day someone is going to get hurt." Molly added as an afterthought.

"Nice meeting you all; I'm sure we will see you at school. Bill, Charlie, it was nice meeting you also." Hermione said.

"Yeah, we have to get going too; I think mom and dad will be starting to wonder what happened all day" Dudley added.

So Harry, having met the whole Weasley family, made three new friends to go to school with, and met two other people that he could probably have a lot of fun with in school, decided to give them something back.

"Wait," Harry said, digging into his bag, "I have something I bought today, I want you guys to have it." He then pulled out his binder, with little sheets on it that he didn't think he'd be able to give out on the first day. "This is our address and number, so if you ever want to call or visit, you can." He handed one first to Mr. Weasley, then to Hagrid, Bill, Charlie, and finally Hermione.

"Call?" Mrs. Weasley asked. "Do you have a floo?"

"Um…" Harry trailed off.

"Nah, they use phones. They couldn't get a floo anyways, they live in a muggle house." Hagrid answered.

"Then, what are the numbers for? Are they like a pass code?" Arthur was now starting to be unable to hide his excitement for muggle things.

"Not really, more like an identification code; they show what phone you are trying to call, since each phone has a different number." Hermione answered.

"You know how you get into the Ministry from the booth?" At Arthur's nod he continued, "Well it's like that, but instead of putting in 'M-A-G-I-C' on the dial pad, you put in those numbers, and it will connect you with Harry's house's phone." Hagrid was explaining. "Except, you have to use a different phone, since the one at the Ministry booth only works when you're trying to get into the Ministry."

Hermione was pulling out a piece of paper and a pen, saying "And here's mine. So you can keep in contact." Writing a set of numbers on five different pieces and handing them out, she then added "You can call me at any time; but if you hear someone saying something about a 'message' it means we aren't home. You can leave a message after you hear the long beep sound, and when we get home we can see someone left it, and listen to it."

"Ingenious; we need something like this." Arthur was saying. "It would save us from missing someone's floo for when we aren't home."

"Well, we will see you guys on the First; you know where to go and how to get into the station, right?" Molly asked.

"Uh, no. No one told us yet." Dudley said.

"And I'm Muggle-born. You guys are the first wizards I really talked to."

"Well, it's at King's Cross Station. When you get to platform 9, there will be a wall in-between 9 and 10; it's a magic wall that when a witch or wizard and their family members walk into it, they go through the wall and into platform 9 ¾." Charlie explained.

"Thank you, I'll remember that for the first." Hermione said happily.

Half an hour later and Hermione was on her way home with her family, having just left Harry, Dudley, and Hagrid at the Leaky Cauldron. Apparently, they stayed to make sure she met up with her parents and left home okay.

Harry and Dudley were running late, according to their mental watch, so they asked Hagrid if there was a faster way home than the underground. So, they boarded the previously-invisible Knight Bus. This, however, was a bad idea. Hagrid had little trouble with the bumps, bounces, movements, and speed of the Knight bus, but the boys were not used to moving so differently so quickly, with so many changes in movements. They had been on roller coasters, but this 'bus' didn't even compare. Looking to the side was also a bad idea, as Dudley had made the mistake of looking left and seeing a sign that said "Manchester Stadium" while the bus was stopped while picking up a new passenger. Less than a second was all it took for Dudley to realize his mistake; for as soon as he was able to read the sign, the bus took off again. Before Dudley could get used to the sudden change (once again), he felt his head spin to the right, where a sign caught his eye, reading it as "New Castle Library." To think the bus had traveled close to sixty miles in less than ten seconds was a scary thought, and one that he didn't ever think he would be revealing to anyone, ever.

Ten minutes later, and the bus stopped along a familiar-looking stretch of road; Hagrid got up and motioned for Harry and Dudley to do the same. With an exaggerated kick, Dudley opened the door while yelling "WE'RE HOME!" at the top of his lungs.

"Finally; what did you guys do, get lost?"

"Of course we did; but not before we met a bunch of people." Harry laughed.

"Losing track of time doesn't count, Harry" chuckled Vernon.

"It does when you make new friends"

"Oh, _new_ friends? Are they gonna be in the same year as you?" Auntuney asked.

"Yeah, at least two of them are. Ron is part of a huge family; with a sister and five brothers, what else could you call them? They're nice people though, with different personalities with every age difference." Dudley was laughing at the apparent shock on the adults' faces.

" _Six_ brothers? _AND_ a sister? Now that's a handful…literally." Vernon was now thankful he decided only one son and nephew was enough; he didn't even want to think what his life would be like with another two sets of boys…let alone a daughter added into the mix.

"That's…quite a large family. Are they still sane?" Petunia asked.

"Kind of; One is a Curse-Breaker, another is a Dragon Handler, and the rest are still in school, cept Ginny, she won't be going for another year." Harry answered.

"And the parents aren't balding or grey-haired yet? Isn't that just surprising." Vernon said.

Hagrid watched the exchange with subtle laughter until he realized the time, once again. "Sorry guys, but I gotta get going. Hogwarts still has stuff to be done before school starts, and I'm starting to fall a little behind. Nothing I can't handle though."

"Alright then Hagrid, thanks for taking the boys to get their stuff; I don't think it would've gone as smoothly if we were their escorts. After all, I wouldn't be able to remember a lot of the things I'd need to from going places with Lily growing up."

Hagrid then shook everyone's hands, gave Petunia a hug, then stepped outside to catch the Knight Bus again. After he was gone, the boys started telling Auntuney and Vernon all about their day, starting with seeing how crowded Diagon Alley was.

"Hmm, I remember the Alley, but when I went there with Lily, I don't remember it being packed like that. I guess that 'War' Dumbledore and Minerva told us about was worse than I thought."

"Wars always are, but I think this one was on a different scale altogether; I mean it was kind of like an in-house civil war. The America's had their civil war, so did a few other countries, but they were North vs. South, or East vs. West…this one seemed to be more of neighbors and strangers vs. the only people you could trust. Worse still, it seemed like your sister only had about ten people she could trust like that." Vernon was explaining.

"That's pretty bad; makes me glad that war is over" Dudley said, while Harry was thinking the same thoughts.

"Well, we only have a week and a half left before the first, what do you guys want to do until then?"

"Be kids and enjoy the summer" Was Dudley's response.

"Yeah, but we forgot about something" Harry just remembered a thought from a few months ago.

"Dudley forgot something? Isn't that just strange." Vernon said.

"We forgot about that book with the symbols on it. We brought stencils of some of the symbols, but forgot to look around the stores for matches."

At this, Petunia and Vernon shared a glance. The boys had no idea how to describe it; their best guess was one they shared when they were silently asking their opinion of something, but it didn't seem like that kind of glance.

After a few seconds, which seemed like minutes to the boys, Petunia sighed, and looked that both of them. "If you guys come back from Hogwarts at the end of the Christmas holidays, and still want answers, we will give you back the book to take to school with you. I have a feeling you'll get at least some answers at school though."

"Okay, deal" Harry said.

With that, the dismissal was all-too apparent, so the boys got ready for bed, already thinking of going to the Polkiss' house and asking for Piers and Penelope before heading to Margret's house the next day.

A/N: I ended it here because i was thinking of how/when to end the next chapter, and had minor writer's block...my version is where i type some stuff but it's "too planned out" and i start reiterating things i dont need to, and it ends up messing up the story. next chapter wont start the next day, but it might start at the platform 9 3/4 but idk yet...everythings up in the air until i write it down.,..then it either stays or goes.

that being said: i dont plan on making a ton of made-up/OC/not included characters, but they will be there... its just a surprise as to whose gonna end up doing/being what in this...

Also, for future reference...as my profile name suggests, i am usually the reader...and made a profile (originally) to tage those ive read, leave comments, and follow/favorite many stories. if you were to look, i have like 100+ favs, and those arent even all of them...just the ones i read/remembered about since 2010...  
so, some of the stuff i write might sound familiar, or like it was an idea from another fanfic (like the dursleys being nice for once), and thats because it was (sorta).  
i change little stuff here and there, and only take the concepts (dursleys being nice, but not how much or how they act different when theyre nice) so that its a bit different from what it was originally... i dont remember all of where i got them so i will need your guys's help...if you see something familiar (like the dursleys being nice) and think it was from a different story, review/comment/PM what it was and where you saw it at.. and ill see if that was the one i got that idea from. at the end (final chapter done, last chapter is 'credits') i will have a somewhat bibliography, thanking everyone and saying where i got some of my ideas from, and if it was from a different fanfic, ill be adding it to the list, with the authors' names and the story names next to whatever idea it was.

ta-ta for now... and also, i CANNOT find 'tiptoe through the tulips' anywhere to hear, just they lyrics and such.. i keep finding one on youtube that is just a lyric video with the dursleys, and cant find someone humming the tune..been bothering me since the first book came to the US back in like '92 or whenever it was...


	8. Chapter 8: Misery Needs Company

Chapter 8: Misery Needs Company

As Dudley followed Harry up the steps, he thought he saw a flicker of movement in his peripheral. Harry sensed his hesitation from below him and said "C'mon, we haven't even started the fun part yet."

"I know, I just thought I saw something…must not have been anything though."

Harry followed his brother's gaze and saw nothing out of the ordinary. At least, not more abnormal than what they were doing just then. Looking back, the strangest thing to see, from Harry's perspective at least, wasn't the barrier that looked like a wall to everyone else; it was the other's reaction to 'seeing' a boy disappear from sight just before running head-first into a very solid-looking wall. Everyone acted as if nothing happened, even the ones watching a boy running towards a wall not a second before the disappearance. Those that were even staring at said boy were still staring at the spot, but not looking confused; more like they have been staring at that spot for days, as if it was the most natural thing to do. After Harry himself had disappeared, the sight of many red-headed children and the enormous red steam-engine locomotive distracted him from all further thought. Meeting the Weasleys and the Grangers at the gate, so to speak, was a surprise, but after looking at the twins, he could see the whole thing was planned. Making friends with these two families will be easy enough, and he could already see himself making friends with the other surrounding families, judging by the apparent first-years reactions towards their families. Tugging their trunks onto the train was a hassle, but with the twins' help it was easier to put them into the compartments above their heads.

For the first few moments on the train, they saw groups and friends already getting their compartments occupied, and the first years they saw were with either family or silently observing from the corners of the compartments. With nothing really holding them back, they both started to look for a compartment for themselves, if that was even possible.

Half-way through the train, they reached a compartment with Ron, Hermione, and another boy in it that no one recognized. Looking to Ron for an answer, Harry said "Hello all; how was the rest of your summer?"

"Mine was fine, but I usually just read my school books to get ready for the start of term."

"Hermione, you're not supposed to read before term starts…they explain most of the things you will need to know in the first few classes anyway. Anyways, my family started talking about how I 'finally made friends' after we got back. Bill and Charlie said they didn't think you'd mind if we talked about you at home."

"Aye, they said you seemed a bit of a prankster in the making."

"And that you needed to hang around us more."

The twins had obviously been listening into their conversation and decided to add their two cents in.

"By the way, I don't think we've met. I'm Dudley, and this is my semi-brother, Harry."

"I'm Neville, Neville Longbottom."

At this, Hermione started to tell them about Neville when she first entered the compartment. "He was looking for something, but I think I interrupted him, then Ron interrupted him again when it looked like he was going to go do something. Then you both showed up, then the twins. So, what were you looking for?"

"My toad, Trevor. He always gets lost, and I always have to find him again. It takes forever to find him, and when I do it's in the most random of places."

"I think I saw a toad, but I can't remember if it was before or after we got onto the train." Harry spoke up.

"Well, I think we should go look for him; it's a nine-hour trip, and who knows where he could be hiding."

"Let's split up to look for him; we're in the middle, so one of us is bound to find him."

"Hermione, how did you know we're in a middle compartment?" Harry asked.

"It's where I boarded at; I went to the middle and only went a compartment away from where I boarded at."

"Hmm. That's smart." Dudley added.

"I'll stay here, in case he's here hiding, or comes back." Ron spoke up.

"Okay, if you see him, put him in this box until we come back." Neville held out a small box with a bit of mud and what looked like algae, at least to Harry Dudley and Hermione.

"I'll go with Neville" Dudley said.

"Guess that means us two are headed to…the back." Harr added after a thought.

"Okay, we'll head to the front" Dudley answered.

As Harry and Hermione searched the train, Hermione heard scuffling sounds, and what sounded like a fight coming from the compartment next to them. Harry, not being as close as Hermione to the door, didn't hear anything, but saw her go through the door.

"Wait, we haven't looked through this whole compartment yet."

"Boys! STOP FIGHTING!"

At this, Harry started to close the gap between himself and Hermione. As he got close enough to actually see what was going on, he saw a blonde-haired, short, pompous-looking kid that was obviously a first year, with a wand in his hand and facing someone he couldn't see yet.

"Are you doing magic? We aren't even at the school yet; and those didn't look like real spells. Here,look: _Reparo_." She said, pointing her wand at the boy whose face Harry could still not see. However, as soon as the kid lifts his head, harry finally could be heard.

"PIERS! What are you doing here?"

"THIS is the boarding school you were going to?"

"You know each other?" Hermione said from (now) behind Harry.

"Yeah, we grew up together. We're practically brothers."

"Well, not as much as you and Dudley" Piers said with a smirk.

"Figures you would know a bunch of muggles. I knew you weren't a real wizard; I can tell just by looking." The blonde-haired kid said.

"What's that supposed to mean. We all have magic; it doesn't matter where we come from." Harry said, looking at the ponce intently.

"You must be another muggle ruining our world. I'm a Malfoy, a family of real wizards. I have had wizards and witches in my family from the days that Hogwarts was originated."

"This must be that pure-blood bollocks Hagrid was telling us about."

"Dudley, you're back!" Harry said, surprised again.

"Ugh, the stench of Mudblood is making me want to leave; it's _my_ compartment, so you all will have to leave."

At the word _Mudblood_ , there was a series of reactions that made it all-too-clear where everyone stood. Piers, Harry, Dudley, Hermione, and another student off to the side all looked confused. Malfoy and the two bodyguard-looking kids smirked. Neville, Ron, and three others (who were looking on to see what happened, but not interfering) gasped with aggressive facial expressions. Even Neville looked like someone not to mess with at that moment.

"Seems like I'm surrounded by the filth, get out and leave this place alone." The other boy could be heard saying.

"Leave it Nott, they can see the way out." Malfoy said.

"Let's go; not worth getting into trouble before we even get to school" Hermione said, practically dragging Ron and Neville away, and back to their compartment.

When they all got back into the compartment, Ron, Neville, and Piers huffed and flopped into their seats. Harry and Dudley were looking at Piers like they thought they were seeing things. Hermione was already spouting off about how breaking rules wasn't worth the trouble, and to let it all go.

"Hermione, you don't get it. That word…it's just…the worst thing you could call someone; for anyone but a pureblood. Purebloods would shrug it off as it doesn't apply to them. No, we're blood-traitors." Ron was saying.

"Yeah, it's like calling someone the 'N word;' I heard it in a book once that my godmother got me from the muggle world: Tom Sawyer."

Realization dawned on everyone's previously confused faces. Harry, deciding to lighten the mood, looked at Piers before saying what was on his mind.

"I'm not imagining this, am I… How are you here? I thought you guys would be in school back home in a week or so."

"Well, some things happened; so I'm here now."

"Obviously. What happened? I didn't think 'Polkiss' would be a wizarding name…and even if it was, you were going to muggle schools and living in the muggle world. So, what happened?" Dudley was saying.

"Well, you remember those kids that Penelope didn't get along with in school?" At their nod, he continued "well, those kids started bullying her. I didn't find out until we were on our way back from the park about a week ago. They caught up with us and starting trying to pick a fight. You know Penelope, she never turns down a fight. So, things happened, and I started to pull them apart when they started ganging up on her. I don't remember everything, but they got more people involved, even some of their 'boyfriends.'"

What? They're only like nine, how could they be into dating already?" Harry asked.

"I know, but it's not like that; it's more like 'playing house.' Anyways, I got between her and everything else, and was covering her, waiting for them to actually hit us. When I looked up, there was this 'force shield' thing covering us and no one could get past it. After like five minutes, everyone left. Then my birthday came; we didn't tell anyone what happened, so we weren't expecting anything to happen."

"When is your birthday?" Hermione interrupted.

"August 29th, but that doesn't matter. Some old lady came and told me that I was a wizard, and that I should hurry up and buy my school things unless I want to wait another year. She said that it wasn't unheard of, and that I was a 'late bloomer' and that the last late bloomer was about six years ago."

"Wow, close call Polkiss. Two days later and you wouldn't be here right now." Dudley laughed. This caused everyone else to start laughing, but not enough to get the twins' attention. Not a single person noticed them listening into the conversation from the compartment door behind them all.

For the rest of the train ride, the muggle tradition of story-swapping was a common ocurrance, even getting the twins, Lee (the twins' third), some of the twins' friends and teammates, and even Percy was interested in the stories of _the boy-who-lived_ growing up. From this alone, Harry was able to tell that gossip was an art form inside of Hogwarts. Dudley picked up on it, and while Dudley himself likes the spotlight a little, he knows that his brother doesn't; and so some of the more embarrassing stories were saved for what Harry referred to as _true friends_.

Hermione looked at her watch and, noticing the time, went to ask the conductor when they would be arriving. Just in case though, she warned the boys in the compartment that she would be dressed in her school robes when she returned. Taking this as a warning, the boys each got changed, while those that weren't in the compartment originally went to their own compartment to get changed.

Twenty minutes later and Hermione was telling the boys that they were due to arrive at Hogsmeade Station in about half an hour. Forty minutes later, the train was stopping at the station, while a familiar voice could be heard over all the ruckus.

"First years! First Years this way!"

"That'll be Hagrid; I can't wait for you guys to meet him" Harry said to the others that weren't in Diagon Alley that day. Neville nodded and Piers looked cautious.

As they walked towards the biggest man they had seen yet, Harry was still talking about his trip to Diagon Alley.

"Harry! I knew you would make friends fast, but this is more than I thought you would so soon."

"Yeah, you've met most of them, but this is Piers Polkiss and Neville Longbottom." Harry introduced, pointing to each one as he did.

"Nice to meet you." Neville said.

"Are you a giant?" Piers asked.

"Nah, only half. But don't tell people, giants aren't all accepted like some of your muggle stories." Hagrid answered with a chuckle. "Longbottom? Frank and Alice's kid?"

Neville nodded, but looked sad. Harry, seeing this, didn't know what to say, but figured he'd change the subject.

"So, why aren't we going with the other students. Is there some weird tradition or something?"

"Or something." After looking around and seeing all the 'reported' first years, he continued with "Alright all you first years; everyone get in the boats, but no more than four in each one."

At this, the other students started meandering towards boats far away from the rather large group around Harry. Dudley and Harry grouped with Piers, and looking around at the others, chose to try to get Neville to go with them. He said he didn't want to intrude, and got in a boat with Hermione and two others they didn't know yet. Hermione got into their boat instead and he say Harry's face light up, but only in the least noticeable way; one of the kinds that you'd have to know Harry for a while to pick up on. He figured it was something to watch, and maybe later tease him a bit for.

As they boats started to magically glide towards a cape they all didn't notice was there, they started to see nothing but blackness, with no light to guide their way to anywhere. But after a minute of pure darkness, they noticed a somewhat-glowing area they were turning towards. Another ten seconds and a round of gasps and a smatter of "Oh my!" was stated by quite a few of the students. Harry was silently shocked, but didn't say anything. Dudley and Hermione were thinking "Should've known; magic and all" before they started smirking at the still-shocked faces of Harry and Piers.

After another few minutes, they passed underneath the castle, and came to a stop near a stone dock, with a large set of stairs leading to what looked to Harry like a Viking-style wooden door, complete with the iron studs and locking mechanisms. Harry and company trudged up the almost never-ending stairs, and the whole group, with the exception of Hagrid, were panting and out of breath. Walking past the door and into a large hallway, Hagrid led the group towards an even-larger set of doors, which voices and excitement could be heard from.

"Thank you Hagrid, I will take them from here."

A few of the students were comically surprised and turned around in a hurry; a few even fell, and Harry noticed that Malfoy was one of them. Harry didn't tell anyone though; it was a scene he would remember for later hilarity.

"I am Professor McGonagall, and I am here to state some of the more obvious rules. Each of you will enter through this door in a few minutes and get sorted. While in the presence of others, ALL Hogwarts students are required to show a level of decency, respect, and common sense. Any merits on anyone's behalf will earn their house points, while any demerits will lose points. This can be awarded or taken away by any staff member, Prefects, and the Head Boy or Girl. The four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has a different set of habits, morals, and attitudes, but all houses are considered equal, with none standing above the other. Now, any other questions should be answered later, or by your prefects; however, I know that curiosity can be a dangerous thing left unattended. Does anyone have any relevant questions that I may be able to answer? Know that if a question is asked that I think holds little value in being answered, I will not do so."

They all started to devour the information, while those that were looking around seemed to be the ones that knew this information already. Finally, with no one else asking questions, Harry was about to ask one of his own when a voice spoke up from behind him.

"Does that mean that we should try to make friends with other houses?"

Go figure, the same question both Dudley and Harry were both thinking about how the phrasing should be. So, they both looked at 'Minerva' with pure curiosity.

"Houses are separated based on qualifications, personalities, and traits. That being said, there has been a lot of separation between the houses. I do not approve of this, but it is out of my influence to alter what has been happening, historically speaking. I do hope that this generation, and many generations in the future, should attempt to make friends with the other houses. Hogwarts had four houses, but Hogwarts itself is a whole, and the students should remember that fact."

With no one else seeming to ask any other questions, Professor McGonagall proceeded to open the doors to the Great Hall, and lead the students forward. The minute the doors opened the sounds that were loud but muffled became clear, and everyone could hear the sound level go from obnoxiously loud to mildly obtrusive. Even with the reduction in sound levels, Harry's ears were telling him to put his hands over his ears, which he was too stunned to do in any case. Seeing those around him made him think that they all had similar thoughts. Hermione was already telling those around them about the candles and ceiling. Looking up at her words, harry could see a full sky, complete with clouds, stars, and movement…actual movement; almost as if it was the real sky. And the best part was that it came down the walls and almost to the same level the candles were on. The only difference was that near the base of the walls, Harry could see that the bricks looked like they were painted with moving paint that reflected the outside.

As the line stopped, Piers was amazed at everything that was happening to him. He was in a school, near Scotland he was guessing, and would be here with his friends that he previously thought he wouldn't be able to see this year, and for years in the future. Looking around him he saw all kinds of different people…which made him feel a little bit better about the whole thing. It's probable that his sister would be able to come to this school in two years' time, but it wasn't guaranteed; he hoped so though, he didn't want to go to a different school than his sister, even in the most annoying of times. Looking towards the front again, he could see the Professor talking again, and focused on hearing the speech. Then the next words he heard was not from the professor, but from someone he couldn't see; or, at least that's what he thought…he heard someone talking but couldn't see a single mouth moving. Looking over at his friends, he saw each of them looking towards the center of the hall, just in front of the Professor's table.

'This is not possible…why is that hat trying to sing' Hermione was thinking to herself. It would be rude to interrupt, no matter the reason. For this reason alone, Hermione was not saying her thoughts aloud, and not walking up to said-mentioned hat and inspecting the hat for a source of any kind that would explain a singing hat. She obviously knew magic was real, but she didn't think that the same magic could take the form of something so wonderful. At the current moment, she was imagining a talking teddy-bear for children, and asking herself if that was something that magical children grew up with. 'Probably not' she reasoned.

All the while, Neville was mentally scrolling through the traits and characteristics the hat was explaining (in song form). At most, he was looking at Hufflepuff, or maybe Ravenclaw, but he didn't think he was smart enough. He never wanted to be in Slytherin, since that house was notoriously biased towards a certain kind of wizard; one he promised those important to him he would never become. 'So, Hufflepuff…sounds alright I guess. I could make friends there, right?' Neville was thinking to himself.

'So that's what they meant by the houses having different standards and all' Dudley was thinking to himself. He didn't know if anyone else was doing it, but he was looking at himself and ticking off things he could see himself doing, or having, in the future. 'Bravery, check; subtlety, never; thirst for knowledge, more like just curious; ultimate friendship, check. I don't know, maybe I'll just find out what the hat apparently thinks.'

A sudden clapping noise drowned Harry's thoughts and he surprised himself by forgetting to clap. At the last moment, he started clapping, but it was already too late; he had made the last, and most obvious, clap of all. He could feel his face getting warm from embarrassment, and if Dudley's face was anything to go by, he had just made the first step to getting noticed by everyone in the hall.

A/N: I know it dropped off weirdly, but I didn't want to start the sorting, as I don't have all the cannon names and sortings, and I wanna balance it out a little with my new characters…also, I don't have a list of them all and who goes where…that being said, I'm curious; where do you think I'll end up putting everyone (Dudley, Piers, Hermione, Ron, Neville, Harry) think of this though first, I changed all but two of their characteristics (Neville and Ron).

Also, how many new people do you think I should put in the sorting? I was thinking like 20, but that's too much I think, maybe 10 or 15, enough to have 6-8 people in the dorm rooms on each gender's side.

Also, I started college classes again, so I am prolly gonna go down to like a chapter a week, until I get used to my schedule and all…then ill prolly be a chapter every 2-4 days. Again, sorry if the chapters are short…im a slow-ish typer, and im not good at writing as some of these other fanfic writers (Oracle2Pheonix and White Squirrel, im calling you two out….you guys are amazing writers, and ive been following both of your guys' stories for as long as ive had an account. Although, I was upset that "my Brother!" was on hiatus for so long, im glad to see it updating again :D there are a lot more, but those are my main two so far)


	9. Chapter 9: The Start of Something Inter

Chapter 9: The Start of Something "Interesting"

"What a wonderful way to start the ceremony. Professor McGonagall, if you would start on the list, please?" This came from the oldest person Harry, Dudley, and Piers had ever seen. They were all thinking 'Why isn't he dead yet' while Hermione was thinking 'Just how old is he?'

"Abbott, Hannah."

A young girl with split-braids hesitated, then practically bounced to the stool, and let Professor McGonagall put the hat on her head. The other children could see that hats 'lips' moving, but could hear nothing until the 'lips' (brim) opened wider than before and shouted "HUFFLEPUFF!"

The table with the students wearing the robes with blue trim clapped the loudest, and all other houses followed in their wake.

"Abe, Stephanie."

A girl that looked a little more embarrassed than Hanna stepped forward, and with less than a second until the hat reached her head the decision was made.

"RAVENCLAW!"

She joined the table with students wearing yellow trim was where she skipped to, sitting down next to someone who was obviously saving the seat. Harry thought it might be a sister or a friend from where she grew up.

"Bachman, John." A red-headed kid, shorter than most, and looking like he was bullied a lot, shyly walked up to the stool. After a gesture from McGonagall, he scooched up to the stool, and let the professor place the hat on his head. Then silence, for a little more than three or four minutes. Just when everyone was wondering what was happening, the brim of the hat yelled "Ravenclaw!"

The ginger leapt off the stool and practically ran towards an empty seat. Sitting down quickly, and facing no one but the table, Harry and Dudley could see that this was a kid that was shy to a fault.

"Boot, Terry"

A blonde-haired kid rose from his hunched position and strolled up the stool. When Professor Mcgonagall was about to put the hat on his head, a question rose from the still-waiting line.

"Um…Terry Allen Boot? Or does he have my name too?"

A pin could be heard from a mile away with the following silence. The list was never wrong, was it? Harry, looking from expression to expression, could tell this has never happened. What caught his curious eye was that insanely-old man rising up and speaking clearly.

"Terry Boot is on the stool. Our mistake would be the spelling, young man. Am I correct in spelling your last name with a 'U' instead of an 'O' after the first?" At a surprised nod, Terry Boute resumed his place in line, again waiting for his turn in line.

Whispers could be heard, but over all new rumors a shout of "RAVENCLAW" could be heard. Continuous clapping once again resumed, and the next name was to be called.

"Bones, Susan."

A short girl with brown hair climbed onto the stool. "HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Boute, Terry"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

'Wow, the sorting hat wasn't even on his head all the way' Harry and Dudley were both thinking.

"Brown, Lavender."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Brocklehurst, Mandy"

"HUFFLEPUFF"

"Bulstrode, Millicent"

"Slytherin"

"Cornfoot, Stephen"

A little pause, then "Ravenclaw!"

Michael Corner went to Ravenclaw, Vincent Crabbe went to Slytherin, Tracey Davis went to Slytherin, and then McGonagall paused slightly and looked around.

"Dursley, Dudley"

Harry looked on as his brother strode up to the stool with a slight grin on his face. With a last glance at Harry, Dudley let the hat cover his eyes. After a minute, no sorting shouts, and still the mystery of where he would be placed, Harry was starting to wonder what the hat was thinking about. Harry thought Dudley would be perfect for Hufflepuff, and couldn't see where else the hat would put him. From growing up with Piers and Harry, Dudley himself had already seen the qualities the hat mentioned and thought it would be an 'easy fix.' Finally, after about four minutes, the hat reached a decision.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Dudley was already on his way to the Hufflepuff table when Mary DuPont was called. She was sorted into Gryffindor; Kevin Entwhistle went to Ravenclaw, Justin Finch-Fletchley was sorted into Hufflepuff, Seamus Finnegan to Gryffindor, Anthony Goldstein to Ravenclaw, and Greg Goyle to Slytherin. Harry could see that Dudley was grinning at him, simply telling Harry that Dudley had already counted down and it was going to be Hermione's turn. A slight blush crept up to Harry's face while he realized this, but he calmed enough to not be obvious.

"Granger, Hermione"

Hermione was rushing up to the stool when snickers could be heard. Her face was getting more and more red, and Harry didn't think he would be any less embarrassed. She stood up on her tipy-toes to reach the stool without falling off, and just like Dudley had, the hat paused. After a few seconds more than a minute, the hat made another tough decision.

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Greengrass, Daphne" was called before Hermione could even be fully seated.

An attractive blonde walked up to the stool and Harry could now see Dudley blushing a bit.

"SLYTHERIN"

Wayen Hopkins went to Hufflepuff, Leroy Jenkins went to Gryffindor, Megan Jones to Hufflepuff, Penny Kuhn to Ravenclaw, Stephanie Lynch to Hufflepuff, Sue Li to Ravenclaw, and finally "Longbottom, Neville" was called.

Neville was a little surprised, and it showed when he was close enough to the stool to almost touch it. However, that's not what happened. Harry didn't think it was possible, but Neville tripped on a space of blank air, fell into McGonagall, and the hat fell from her hands. The truly amazing part was that as the sorting hat was falling, it grazed poor Neville's head. Before the hat landed, it shouted "GRIFFINDOR!" for all to hear.

A shocked silence followed, and Harry thought he imagined it. But when Professor McGonagall picked up the hat, and mentioned for Neville to take a seat at the table, instead of the stool, realization hit everyone. Those that knew the name were nodding, and those that knew Neville were grinning and clapping.

As the sorting started to continue, Harry was growing more and more nervous. He knew that his last name meant a lot in this world, but he didn't know what kind of effect it would have for the younger generations. He knew about celebrities, and he knew that some of them were just normal people, but he didn't want to be treated like a celebrity just because of something that his birth-parents did for him.

Dudley was paying more attention to Harry than the sorting, but he could still recall that MacDougal went to Ravenclaw, Ernie MacMillan went to his table, Malfoy went to Slytherin, Roger Malone sat next to him on his right, Lily Moon went to Gryffindor, and Theodore Nott went to sit a few seats away from Malfoy. Harry seemed to realize his name was getting closer and started to pay more attention to the actual names. Judging by the expression on Harry's face, Dudley could see that he forgot tthat Piers was coming up soon.

"Parkinson, Pansy" was called and Harry and Dudley couldn't help it. A soft snickering could be heard from both of them, and from Piers next to Harry. Then the twins they knew liked a good joke started to laugh, which caused everyone that 'didn't get it' to look around with curious faces.

Pansy went to Slytherin, and twins were called. Padma went to Ravenclaw, while Parvati went to Gryffindor. Sally-Anne Perks went to Gryffindor, and then Harry was genuinely surprised for a moment. Looking around, he thought his name would be close, but he forgot about Piers.

Piers' name was called, and before the sorting hat was fully on his head, it yelled "SLYTHERIN."

This was something that neither Harry nor Dudley were expecting. Of all the houses, they thought Piers would go to Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. He didn't seem like the sneaky type of person, so Dudley (after thinking about it for a minute) concluded that it was Piers' ambition that put him in Slytherin. Afterall, Piers did say he wanted to be a person to look up to when he grows up; Piers' thought processes weren't off-point either.

"Potter, Harry" broke everyone from their ramblings. From the back ground, Harry could see people with shocked faces, people whispering to their friends and neighbors, and only a select few looking on with mild curiosity.

Slowly walking up to the stool, and letting Professor McGonagall place the sorting hat on his head was one of the most embarrassing things he had ever done. Thankfully, once the hat was on his head, a small voice broke Harry of his embarrassment.

"Plenty of attributes I see…Yes, Hufflepuff is a reliable house, of that I can agree. Hmm, some ambition, but not as much as your friend Mr. Polkiss."

"I just don't want to be separated from my friends" Harry thought.

"Ah, Hufflepuff would suit you, but your friends are already in different houses…Hogwarts is a school with different houses, but none are separate from the others. Plenty of curiosity, and a thirst for knowledge that would make Ms. Granger blush. Hmm…difficult to place, difficult to place…"

Harry, curiously looking around him, glanced at Hagrid, Professor McGonagall, and Dudley and Piers, all the while thinking 'As long as I don't disappoint them, I can be happy.'

"Well, if that is how you feel, I believe your house should be GRYFFINDOR!"

The pure adrenaline rush of clapping from Gryffindor Table surged Harry to take a seat next to the first person he could find. Unfortunately, the twins were across the table chanting "We got Potter! We got Potter!" and the people on either side of him didn't look all that familiar. Instead, Harry focused on looking across the hall at Dudley, Piers, and Hermione, all of which were grinning like the Cheshire cat, clapping just as loudly as the Gryffindor table.

"If we can continue!" was heard, and everyone finally calmed down. Professor McGonagall was staring at the population strictly, then she stated "Rivers, Oliver"

Oliver ended up getting sorted to Hufflepuff, while Sophie Roper joined him less than a minute later. Thomas Runcorn went to Slytherin, John Smith and Lisa Turpin went to Ravenclaw, Dean Thomas went to Gryffindor, with Ron following him to the table after Lisa was sorted.

"Zabini, Blaise" was called as the last person to be sorted (Slytherin) and after Blaise was seated, the Headmaster rose to state a few completely random words to start the feast.

"Oddment! Nitwit! Blubber! Tweak!"

After those words, the tables in the hall filled with food instantaneously. Harry could see Dudley already devouring everything in sight, while Piers was still looking around at everyone at his table.

After a few minutes, Harry could tell that someone was trying to get his attention, but he couldn't really tell from where, or from whom. Looking over at his other friends was fruitless, as was looking at Neville; but something was telling him to make eye contact with someone. Glancing around, he saw no one looking at him, but even without looking Harry could tell that people were curious or talking about him. After a few minutes of this 'feeling' Harry gave up, and concentrated on those around him. Might as well get used to the people I'll be sharing a room with, he figured.

Looking over at Neville again, he saw that Neville went back to his introverted self, even if he was surrounded by the twins. Now, paying more attention to those around him, he saw someone looking at him through the table. Not from, but _through_ the table.

"Hello, Mr. …?"

"Sir Nicholas De Mi-"

"That's Nearly-Headless Nick"

"And his never-ending charade of being fully headless"

"Ever-willing to fulfill his promise to keep Gryffindor alive."

The twins were obviously weren't being completely respectful, but that didn't stop the Gryffindors around them from snickering or staring at 'Nearly-Headless Nick.'

"Oh, well if that's how you want to be called, I have no problem with it" Harry started.

"I'd _prefer_ to be called Sir Nick, if nothing else."

"Well then, I'm Harry Potter. Nice to meet you, Sir Nick." Harry held out his hand for a handshake, but the perplexed expression on Sir Nick's face told Harry that something hi just did was either strange, wrong, or just plain unheard of.

"People don't act like that, Harry…" Fred (or George) started.

"Some do, I was taught how, but everyone knows that's pureblood stuff" Neville said with a sad expression.

"Is it? I was taught it was common curtesy." Harry replied.

"Really?" Ron asked. "Most people just nod, or ignore things like that."

With that now revealed, Harry just looked on, saying "That's just sad." He didn't notice the Weasley family and a few others looking at Harry with a new expression.

With the whole of Hogwarts starting to become full, Harry saw Dudley finishing up what was on his plate, but still trying to stuff a few things onto another plate to take with him. Laughing to himself, he noticed that the Headmaster was now starting to move forward.

"As you have noticed, there are now more students this year than there have been in the past few years. The houses' tables have never looked more full, and I look forward to having an occupied castle once again. That being said, I welcome the older students to show the newly-sorted house-mates how Hogwarts can be. Keep in mind that the Forbidden Forrest is still off limits, and Mr. Filch has posted an updated list of banned items. For this year, the third-floor corridor is off-limits for those that do not want to die a very painful death. As I am sure you all are now duly stuffed, Prefects will now please show the first-years the way to your House Common Rooms."

With that, Percy Weasley could be seen gathering all of the First-Year Gryffindors and lining them up. A long walk later brought the line of youngsters to a painting; a moving painting.

"This is the doorway to our common room. Each House's doorway is different, and not shared between houses; even to friends or family. Ours requires a password." At this, he turned from the group and plainly stated "Fortuna Major."

At the coded phrase, the 'Fat Lady' gave the group a short nod, and swung forward. Next to Harry, Neville was already cringing. Harry had already found out that Neville did not like small spaces, and the portrait-hole was a small passageway that everyone could see they would have to crawl through. When it came to Neville's turn, Harry watched as the previously small hole grew a little. Harry assumed that it would shrink or grow to a level that wouldn't make the crawling impossible, but would make crawling a test of courage of sorts.

The passageway shrunk for Harry, but on the other side was a comfortable-looking common room, complete with already-talking older students, couches, tables, and a fireplace.

"The stairs on the left will lead to the female dorm rooms, while the stairs on the right will lead to the male dorm rooms. Boys are not allowed up into the girls' dorms, so don't even try to. Good night everyone."

At this, Percy left the group to wander, or climb, depending on what they wanted to do. Classes started tomorrow, and everyone was giving Harry odd looks, so Harry decided to just crash tonight, and worry about meeting more people the next day.

"Also, breakfast is from 7 until 9 every day; lunch is from 11:30 until 12:30; Dinner is from 6:30-8:30." Percy added from his seat.

Climbing the stairs on the right, Harry saw his trunk sitting next to a comfortable-looking bed on the right of the room's door. A different trunk was sitting next to each bed, and there was no particular order to the placement. He assumed it was matched to meet the student's preferences.

After the rest of the boys entered the room after Harry, he noticed that all his clothing was already in the closet by his bed, his books were on the shelf by his bed, and the only things actually in the trunk were the items that could be counted as supplies or display. His parchment, quills, calligraphy set, and pictures were still in the trunk for Harry himself to set up and organize. His last thought before retiring for the night was "Magic is wonderful."

Harry woke up to something moving on his bed. He didn't know what it was, but he did know that it didn't try to wake him up, it just ended up happening. When he rose his head enough to look above his own body, he saw his snowy owl staring at him expectantly.

"Morning, what time is it?" Harry asked aloud.

"Uh, about 8. Why?"

"Oh, Neville, I didn't know you were up. Wanna head to breakfast then?" Harry asked.

"Um, sure. If you weren't talking to me, who _were_ you talking to?"

"My familiar."

"Oh. Wait, it doesn't have a name?"

"Every time I think of a good one, she bites me or stares at me."

"That means she doesn't like that particular name…familiars can get picky. I had to run through almost fifty different names until Trevor gave up and stood on his name on a book cover. Took me forever to figure out what he was doing."

Harry laughed, then got ready for the first breakfast in his new school. Neville followed him to breakfast, but there wasn't any two seats empty, so they were about to split up and find different seats until Harry heard someone call his and Neville's names.

"Harry! Neville, over here." Looking over to their right was a set of four seats they hadn't noticed before.

Hermione and Ron were talking, but next to them were the twins. Again Harry was reminded that these two would make his life at school more fun than he'd expect. Motioning to Neville to follow him to sit next to the twins, Harry and Neville were then introduced to the twins' cohort and accomplice.

"This is Lee,"

"Lee, this is Harry"

"And Neville"

"And Ron." They both finished.

"Done talking to her now?" Lee asked Ron.

"She just asked me a question. Relax." Ron answered.

"Do they let us mix houses for sitting?" Harry asked the trio.

"Eh, they don't say 'NO,' exactly"

"But no one ever switches houses for meals"

"It's unheard of" Lee added.

"Oh, well I guess I'll see Dudley and Hermione and Piers in classes right? Or are they all separate too?"

"Nah, they're mixed, sometimes."

"But not all of them."

Twin-speak was hard to follow, so Harry figured that instead of trying to keep track of who said what, he would just listen to the voices and pay no attention to where they came from.

"C'mon Harry, let's eat some and we'll get our schedules from McGonagall." Ron was already sitting down next to his brothers, with Neville next to him. The only seat left was next to a weird-looking kid that looked quite a bit of a nerd. Lee Roy or something, Harry tried to remember.

"Jenkins, just call me Jenkins. I don't like my first name." He introduced himself to Harry on the platform, but Harry didn't really pay all that much attention at the time.

"Harry, just Harry."

At that, the now-normal event of Ron stock-piling his food onto his plate, then devouring everything in sight was starting to happen, so Harry refocused on his own plate, making sure to include everything he grew up on, as well as a few new things he didn't recognize. After a few more minutes of somewhat-quiet eating, Harry saw Professor McGonagall start to stand up with a stack of schedules in her hand. She then handed the bigger stack to the prefects, and held onto the smaller stack to pass out herself.

"Mr. Weasley, Mr. Longbottom, Mr. Potter…I do hope you learn to adjust to Hogwarts scheduling more quickly; I would hate to dock points for tardiness on the first day."

After watching her walk away with a sense of intimidation following her wake, Harry stared up at the person across from him. A slightly-pretty brunette that looked a bit on the muscled side. Not too much, but enough to tell that Harry didn't want to play "Mercy" or "bloody knuckles" with her.

"Is she always like that in school?"

"Always…why, you've seen her _out_ of school?" the brunette answered.

"She helped me and my brother out a bit ago…had some cases of, um, accidental magic…we didn't know what was happening." Looking around and seeing shocked faces, Harry summarized with "She seemed more cheerful back then."

"Ah, yeah…cheerful."

"That makes _PERFECT_ sense."

"Because McGonagall is the prime example of a cheerful disposition."

"Fred, George…I think she can hear you." The brunette chuckled.

Fred and George jumped out of their seats, looking around for their Head-of-House. Seeing nothing around her, they pointed fingers and showed hurtful expressions, while saying "Angelina, how could you."

"You took the first prank away from us."

Watching the twins run away with fake tears running down their faces was worth it. At least, it was hilarious for Harry and Neville. Ron must be used to it, living with them and all.

A/N: sorry all for the long wait, but college, a job, and household problems came up… also, I have no internet or anything at the house, again, so all my college work and all needs to be done at the college now…kinda sucks, but because of that, I dropped from 235lbs. to 180lbs. so im thankful…

So, this is gonna be up for a bit, but im gonna update/edit it from the comments/reviews….since I don't really have a beta reader, and im proof-reading everything at the moment (im not good at proofreading)

That being said, I do want your guys' opinion on a few things… how was the sortings done? What should I name Harry's owl and Dudley's cat? (I keep having to go back and remember some of the things I wrote, since its mostly not planned…) should I keep the classes cannon, or make up a new schedule, since there was only the gryffindor's schedule shown… If I make it myself, what classes should I mix, not mix, and with who? (Im thinking of making potions as h/r and g/s, and charms with g/r h/s, but idk about the rest….. im GREAT at making schedules, but idk what to do yet….

Also: im making everyone in this fanfic have their own 'vices' or 'specialties' and the only one I can give away atm is harry's (obviously DaDA) but everyone is gonna have 2 'main skills' in classes, but not gonna be core classes only…

Im thinking of starting to plan out some of the details for this.. like schedules, names, skills, sortings, affiliations, and stuff like that…. I already have a spreadsheet for cannon info, but its nowhere near complete..i only have the 1991 and 1994 sorting, and a list of names and creatures I wrote down from pottermore…

Anything else, let me know…. Like I said, ill be editing/updating this chapter after a little while to fix things I might've messed up when free-writing this…thx all.


	10. Chapter 10: Day of Days

Ch 10: Day of Days

"Ms. Granger, found you at last. Here is your schedule, and may I say, it is nice to see some of the unwritten rules being bro- er, bent." Hermione looked up to see the shortest 'professor' that could be imagined. As the professor, Flitwick as she recalled, walk away towards the staff table, she heard another remark from the twins which made her blush.

"yeah, he's always that short"

"he just pads his seat at the table with books from the library"

"to make him-"

"seem a little bit-"

"a lot of bit-"

"taller" the twins finished toghether.

Hermione didnt think it was proper to talk about a teacher like that, but that didnt stop her from a slight snicker.

"aye, he's half-goblin, me da' told me about him. He was a champion dueller too, and he is said to prove height means nothing on the dueller's stage." Hermione looked to her left and saw who she remembered as Seamus.

"well, he must be really good then; I'm sure his class will be quite informative." Hermione turned to ron and harry, asking "what do your schedules look like?"

"we have Herbology after this, then transfiguration and charms after lunch" Harry supplied.

"then we'll get to see what his class is like and tell you all about it."

"not needed, I'll be there with you. I only have History of Magic after lunch; I do hope that class isn't as boring as everyone told me it was."

"I was told to do work in that class, or sleep" said a new voice behind harry.

"ah, the slytherin appears! I was wondering if you'd come over."

"Slytherin isn't as bad as i thought. I have to deal with that prat Malfoy, but i can handle him. he's kind of a wimp" grinned Piers. "plus, i have it with the ravenclaws, it seems."

Neville, after watching the obvious display of friendship, finally felt brave enough to say something. "it's almost 9, we should head to class. I hope it's not too far."

"where's dudley at, anyways"

"We saw him-"

"sneaking off to Herbology-"

"taking the long way it seems-"

"judging by his following of a certain slytherin"

"ooh, dudley already has a crush?" Harry asked.

"not by her face-"

"right upset she was"

"heard her say something-"

"that sounded like-"

"'I'll HEX you-"

"just before she stomped away." Harry and company didnt know how the twins finished eachother's sentances, but judging by ron's face, it was something that they'll have to get used to.

After gathering all their stuff, harry, ron, and neville started heading towards the main entrance, hoping to see where the others go so they didnt get lost (like harry had done constantly growing up). After a few minutes standing around like idiots, Harry spotted some familiar faces heading towards what looked like a greenhouse that grew rampant for a few decades, so he headed that way, with the rest following him. Hopefully his gut was correct, and they werent heading for a simple stroll on the grounds before being late to their first class. After entering the greenhouse, the reason for the appearance of the greenhouse became all too clear; there were plants and (what looked like) hybrid plant-animals growing everywhere. Looking for a teacher of some sort, Neville saw the tables and guided them towards tables of four. Dudley was already sitting in an otherwise vacant table, so harry ron and neville sat next to him, inwardly laughing at his slumped stance and the downtrodden facial expression, along with the pink outline of a handprint to accompany the expression.

"didnt say yes? thats a first" harry snickered.

"shut it, she just doesnt know me well enough yet; she'll come around" Dudley replied.

"all right class, this is herbology, and i expect you all to listen carefully to what is said in this class. Wand waving and spell casting will only get you so far if you dont know what youre dealing with. I dont put up with nonsense in my class and that includes pointless rivalries."

Harry could already tell that this is one of those classes that if you didnt pay attention, there would be no hope of passing, no matter how much of a green thumb you have. The class started with identifying some of the different plants from their first few chapters, and couldnt wait to do more than just look at plants. Looking around, he could already tell those that were genuinely interested in this class, and those that would pass it off as unimportant. To him, all classes had to have their individual importance, and some of the more science fiction-type horror and thriller movies helped with this realization.

After the class was dismissed, ron reminded him that lunch was already being made, which made three of their stomaches growl in anticipation. although, harry didnt know if hermione, after spending some time with her classmates, would be sitting with them at their table.

A short walk into the hall and spotting bushy hair confirmed that she was at her own house's table, but that didnt stop him from seeing that there was no one even close to her.

"Lets sit with hermione, there are enough seats around her."

"and thats the only reason?" joked dudley.

"duh, but would you want to sit with us, or a certain slytherin?" harry retorted.

"no, she has- wait, no, malfoy is trying to talk to her, and i dont want to get into a fight on the first day."

Neville chuckled and said "we did that already didnt we? on the train?"

"oh yeah...well, not a second; i dont want to come off as a bully."

Walking the short distance to the Ravenclaw table seemed like a world-class act, going by the shocked faces of everyone in the crowd of stares. after sitting down with hermione, everyone started their whispers again, but glances and pointing was now included. A short lunch later, and hermione was off to her class, History of magic, while everyone else went to their classes. glancing at his watch, harry could already tell they were going to be late for transfiguration.

"Tardy already, Missers potter, weasley and longbottom? I expect you can find your way from now on?"

"Yes, professor mcgonagall" three voices chorused.

"verywell." Turning her attention to the class as a whole, she started with "In this class, i expect every one of you to not spend the time allotted by gazing at irrelevant objects, and i expect full effort and attention to be on this class. Transfiguration is a precise branch of magic which, if not under control, can lead to dire consequences. I expect all of you had pre-read the chapter on the basics, and to become more familiar with the attention needed. With that said, I hope to see these matches turned into needles. I will assist any that would value my advice. you may begin."

Harry took his match and glanced at ron and neville. it seemed like ron was trying to imagine a needle intensely because his eyes were shut and he was repeating "thin, metal, pointy" over and over again. Neville to the right of him was pointing his wand at the match and repeating "come on, work, change." Harry didnt think that it would be all that difficult until his first attempt, which did nothing at all. on his second, third and fourth try, all the match did was roll over and then finall ignite.

"Try imagining the needle more steady, instead of imagining the changing process."

Harry practically jumped at the voice next to him, and saw an unfamiliar face looking at him pointedly. on his next attempt, the match changed into a longer-than-necessary form, but with no point and no thread-hole.

"better, but more concentration on the finer details, and you'll get it eventually."

"thanks..um..."

"lily, lily moon"

"thanks lily." Harry said. and after another few tries, he noticed that she had a stack of ten needles, in perfect form, already sitting in front of her. "So, this is like your kind of thing, then?"

"sort of, my mom helped me with a lot of practice growing up, but i like charms better."

"Ah, youre wizard-raised?"

"not really, I have a squib mother, and a great grandfather that was a charms master. went to school with Headmaster dumbledore. After that, it wasnt much to get used to."

"Squib?" asked harry.

"She means someone that was born from a witch and/or wizard, but didnt have any sort of magical core." Ron spoke up.

Neville added "Its sort of the opposite of muggle-born. Nothing wrong with it, even if others think so."

"Thanks guys, ill let my mom know that she wasnt wrong."

"Why would someone say she was wrong?" harry asked further.

"Because she told me that some of the 'right sort of people' wouldnt say anything mean about squibs. Dad thought i shouldnt ever bring it up, with all that pure-blood nonsense that everyone harps on." lily explained.

"as intriguing as this conversation may be, i only see one set of needles. Perhaps you could benefit with more practice, and less conversation?"

"Yes, professor." three voices (again) chorused.

After the bell rang for the end of class, Lily earned Gryffindor 10 points, and neville, surprisingly to him, earned 5, for getting three out of ten needles to fully transfigure, while the rest were 90% complete. lily agreed to show them the way to the charms classroom, as it was quite a distance from the transfiguration classroom. on the way, they saw, as harry remembers, that really shy ginger who practically ran to a seat after the hat placed him in ravenclaw. it seemed he was lost, as he had already passed them three times on different sets of stairs. After getting to the classroom, they all spotted professor flitwick standing on a stack of books behind his poduim.

A short rocall later, harry remembered his name as John Bachman, and told himself to try and make friends, or at least get hermione to make friends, with him. Hermione herself was sitting in a row of seats in between harry and ron, with neville on her right. Professor flitwick's introduction was entertaining as well as informative, and he confirmed the fact that he was a duelling champion years and years ago.

Although, the first class was all theory and less of a practical side, professor flitwick left them with the promise of more practical applications than most of the other classes, only transfiguration competing for the class with the most practical applications of study.

"Finally, DINNER!"

"Ron, you astound me. I dont know how you can be so skinny with the appetite you so aptly absorb."

"but hermione, its... its food! how can you not like food?!"

"ron, no one likes food as much as you do."

"you just dont understand harry, food is like...the best thing for anyone. specially my mom's food. nothing against hogwarts food, but mom's food is on a whole new level."

"I have to agree" neville added. "Mrs. weasley has a gift with foods of all kinds. I always go to their house with my gran when i can."

"Glad to have ya neville"

"Aye, well said!"

"we'll be sure to-"

"let mum know what you said-"

"about her savory foodstuffs." the twins seemed to find themselves entering the great hall once again with the group of friendly first-years, and it seemed like they could tell when the time was theirs for a grand entrance, to wherever they are; at least to harry, it seemed that way. Ron was probably used to it, he reasoned.

Spotting dudley already at the hufflepuff table, the group migrated towards the empty seats near him, only to find their path blocked by a certain blonde-haired ponce.

"Why am i not surprised. Harry potter thinks himself higher than the rest of us. I was told you were the one sticking up for the Mudbl-"

"Thats ENOUGH Mr. Malfoy. five points from slytherin, and be glad you didnt finish that sentance. Now get back to your table, unless you'd prefer to sit with my Gryffindors?"

"No, professor mcgonagall, i wouldnt want to, uh, intrude."

"Then off you go" She replied evenly. She then turned to the group and gave them an affirmative nod. "I am glad to see that some have taken it upon themselves to associate with others from the different houses. Five points for Gryffindor, and Five points to Ravenclaw. I can only hope that others feel comfortable to be as diverse."

"What was that all about?" Asked dudley after they took their seats.

"That git of a malfoy again" answered ron. "Seems he still has a stick up his ar-"

"Ron! language!" hermine chided.

"He is though" added harry. "I think i want to hex him, soon as i learn how, anyways."

"Thats not nice, no matter how mean he is" Hermione said, reminding them of their manners.

"Talking about malfoy?" Asked an older student with grey eyes and short-cropped hair.

"Yes, how did you know?" dudley asked.

"he just walked away from you guys, and i know how the malfoys are; my dad has to work with them. And let me say, they give me the creeps, i dont know how they can even have friends, and Im in hufflepuff!" they said.

"Guys, this is cedric diggery; he helped me find my way to my last class, defense. he's a fourth year" dudley explained.

"Ah, nice to meet you, Im harry."

"Neville"

"Hermione"

"Ron, but you probably heard about me from my brothers, either percy, the twins, or maybe even charlie, if you remember him. He played seeker."

"I know all of them." he smiled. "Cant say i get along with percy though."

"And im piers."

"Glad to see you make an appearance" Dduley said. "Where'd that other kid go, that redhead?"

"He's sitting at the ravenclaw table again" hermione answered. "I dont know why he always sits alone though, he hasnt even tried to talk to anyone. I think he didnt grow up with a lot of friends."

"Or maybe he's just shy. I like shy" said an older girl from next to cedric. "Im Cho chang, by the way. A third year."

After another round of introductions, and a few farewells after the dinner feast, the groups headed up to their common room entrances, with promises to meet at the slytherin table early in the morning. While ron didnt like the idea, they all agreed to split their table-sharing evenly, even if 25% of it would be at the slytherin table. From the look on dudley's face, everyone could tell he didnt mind at all, not one bit. Hermione was promising harry to talk to, or try to anyways, the irish kid that didnt talk much.

Alltogether, it seemed like hogwarts was going to be an invaluable experience, no matter what classes they took or what houses they were in. The only hope was that people like malfoy didnt make this less of a fun time, and just stayed out of their way, as they were going to try and avoid him and his company as much as they could. only time would tell, Harry thought to himself as he settled in his bunk at the end of their first night.

"Too bad dudley has astronomy on the first day" harry heard ron say.

"Yeah, a bugger of a schedule if there ever was one" neville added.

"I think they did that so that no house has astronomy on a friday night. that would be the real complication; i dont think i could enjoy my saturday if i knew i had to be up until midnight on a friday, no matter what year i was in." harry knew he was right, even if there was no proof, and just as he felt himself falling asleep from the days' exhaustion, he heard a mumbled "yeah" from both ron and neville, and a response from who he thought was either dean or seamus of "you're probably right harry."


	11. Chapter 11: Classroom Conflict

Chapter 11: Classroom Conflict

"my God, even I didnt think classes like history of magic existed. I thought the first class was long just because of it being the first of the semester, but it seems like your brothers were correct, ron. I think ill start studying history on mmy own and doing the other assignments in history."

"Hermione! im scandalized!" ron had finally listened to the pranksters from hell, as he liked to call them, and tell hermione their advice for getting through history of magic class. Hermione didnt believe him at first, but that would have been expected upon even a first meeting of the dreadful duo.

"Harry, didnt you say that history seemed like it did in primary schhol?" Dudley said as he turned to ron, hermion, neville, john, and the twins. "We had this history teacher that would read from the book, so our class took it upon ourselves to get a copy of overy test of the year from the upper years' classes; turns out it never changes."

"Thats awful, thats just as bad as cheating!" hermione retorted.

"Ah, dear brother of mine, it seems as if-"

"The next generation of marauders have been in practice-"

"and for almost as long as we have!"

"Dont let our mum hear about that, I dont think she would be as forgiving of harry and I following-"

"SHH!" harry shushed Dudley mid-sentance then whispered in his ear low enough for others not to hear "i dont want them knowing about my parents and their gang yet."

After a set of curious glances, the twins looked onto ron for an explaination, but neville sopke up instead. "I dont think the twins would be surprised if you followed in their footsteps; i think it might make their heads a little bigger than need be though."

"Right, wouldnt want them to get stuck in the door like curly and moe. Theyd need a larry, but i dont think percy would want to fill those shoes." Piers had made his presence known with his typical input.

"how was your potions class?" John had been speaking up more and more as the week continued, but it still was nowhere enough for the others to actually say they knew him enough yet.

"Horrible! hermione lost us five points for answering a 4th-year question correctly, and draco 'accidentally' dropped his book on top of her vial."

"after I had put away my things and Snape vanished my cauldron's contents, of course."

"Ah, that would make it the, what, tenth time?" john had asked.

"from whose house? just us gryffs', or all cept sytherin?" neville added a smirk that was contrary to his attitude a week ago. "if its all cept the snakes, that makes it 26, and nine for the gryffs."

Hermione got one of what ron called "That look of endangerment" that mean trouble for someone in the future. so far, it had only been draco, pansy, and another slytherin named Nott, who tried and failed to ruffle piers' feathers on more than one occassion.

"what, im just thinking" hermione responded to harry and ron's questioning glances.

"We know, thats what scares us."

The twins decided to meet the rest of the quidditch team at their table, mostly due to the incoming presence of the head of the hated slytherin house, but also because they knew that the person with the most dangerous potential for pranking would be hermione. only her morals are currently stopping her, but even they wouldnt bet on that characteristic lasting the whole 7 years, especially for people like draco.

"And what exactly is this abysmal gathering doing at a table other than their own, may i ask?" Snape's snear could rot an entire brick building, but the huffing had yet to come, and they all knew it.

"We're just visiting a friend, professor." Even hermione had to admit that the few times that this john guy spoke, it was usually stated with the correct tone and reasoning.

"Ah, a truely remarkable ravenclaw...one of the few that is intelligent enough to keep his mouth shut; most of the time." Snape seemed, at least to neville, to be goading john to say something contrite, but everyone knew that would never happen, especially with someone as daunting as snape.

A sudden movement at the head table brought the entire halls' attention. "It seems that now is the appropriate time to announce a policy that will be implimented for the forseeable future. It has come to my attention that a group of students started a new tradition here at Hogwarts that has been increasing in popularity and occasion. Therefore, i award 20 points to the following students' houses. Harry Potter, Neville longbottom, hermione granger, john bachman, piers polkiss, dudley dursley, and lily moon. I hope that this new tradition continues to spread, and that others that are reluctant to switch tables at meal times do not feel it is a burden or shameful to do so. There are different houses, yes, but Hogwarts is a collaboration of those houses, not a division of them."

Following his speech was a polite clapping from their current table, and thunderous applause from the remaining tables. As harry's embarrased expression could be seen, and herimone looked like she wanted nothing more than for everyone to stop looking at her, john, ron, neville, and lilly were noticing that instead of continuing their meals there was a collective movement from almost half of the remaining tables, as students from every house collected their things and moved around the hall to different locations.

Harry didnt think Professor McGonagall's slight smirk couldve gotten any larger without turning into a prideful smile. Looking down the table Harry and ron could see Hagrid giving them a thumbs-up and a hearty smile. An hour later and there was a collective movement as the students started heading towards their own house commmon rooms for the retirement of the evening and first week's classes.

So far, every house as a whole, according to the collage of friendships formed by the group, hated potions, defense, and history of magic. Astronomy classes were only bad because of the late hour they were held, and that only a few actually enjoyed the classes like herbology and astronomy. Neville was one of the few that actually enjoyed herbology, and hermione took to astronomy like harry did to defense. piers actually liked potions, and dudley actually was starting to enjoy charms class, as he could start to see a pattern to the movements and the effects. however, not only had john, the paralyzingly-shy member of the group, shown the others the tricks to transfiguration, but his own talent at defense and charms rivaled the first years' own hermione granger. the group as a whole knew that had there been a GPA-like system, hermione would blow away any competition, but her insight to some of the more uncommonly-known intracacies of the theories and uses of the different branches of magics led to the group spending saturdays trading the experiences, insights, tricks, tips, and assistance needed from any to another. harry and john started holding class-wide tutoring fro defense, and hermione for the rest. Neville still had a monopoly over herbology though. It seemed that neville's "green thumb" covered his whole left arm, and still had green to spare.

about a week until halloween and their first sign of abnormalities showed itself in the form of a challenge by draco, crabbe, goyle, and nott towards the group as a whole. The difficulties of finding some sort of safe-haven from bullying attempts only ended in either charms, herbology, or transfiguration, but at any other time, either memeber of their groups would find themselves in the presence of the other's group. nothing escalated to any sort of breaking point until the last potion class until halloween, where draco decided to up the standards of pranking by dropping an unknown ingredient into the cauldron of neville longbottom, who was working with piers at the time. unfortunately for draco, piers' aptitude for potions decided to show itself in full regale. quick thinking and an abundance of already prepared ingredients in his potions kit proved to be an aspect that even 'professor' snape didnt see coming. what was supposed to be a cure for boils, their instructed 1st-year potion, turned into an unknown entity for all spare three in the classroom.

"10 points from gryffindor. Longbottom the assignment was for a cure for boils; now get out of my classroom before i dock more for incompetancy."

"But professor, piers just concocted-"

"I know what was made Me. polkiss, but that does not excuse a student for making such a mistake in the first place."

"It wasnt him that added it, I saw draco-"

"Blaming another student mr potter? I see the apple indeed fell close to the tree." That put another scowl on Harry's face, and made ron's pink hue turn to a morbid purple. "And another 20 points for your cheek, potter."

With a huff, they all started to gather their things. once snape had turned to return to his desk, harry gethered his own flask and made an additional to stuff into his schoolbag. Piers and neville did the same and stuffed theirs into their bags as well, left the first vials' contents on the desk, and searched for the remaining members of their group before the great hall could be entered. on the way, the twins were found, and they were pointed towards the charms classroom.

"Mr bachman, well done; i didnt think i would have another student able to raise a book on their first try since a remarkable man named Mr. Lupin almost thirty years ago! twenty points to ravenclaw. and another 10 for Ms. Grangers sucessful feather. Oh my, those faces do not look happy, perhaps i should leave you to it then?"

as harry, ron, neville, and piers entered the charms classroom, Professor flitwick saw their disgruntled expressions and assumed they wanted privacy. However, this was not on their minds. "actually, we need you to call Professor McGonagal, if you can. There is something we need to talk about, before Harry here blows his top" neville responded.

"It has gotten to that point then?" Hermione seemed to guess what the problem was, or could be, just from the expression on harry's face.

"Very well, but can this wait until after the feast? we could have more time to discuss what the situation may be, and it will give you time to calm down a buit."

"That works, thanks professor" piers said.

on their way down, those that were involved explained what had happened and hermione was looking at the vials, with a clearly amused, but obviously surprised, expression seemingly adapted to her face. "Do you know what this is?!" she practically yelled at piers.

"Duh, its why we took a vial. there is no way to salvage a potion for boils with lasewing flies added unless you make it into something else. even vanishing only makes it reat in an obviously detrimental way, but not a single sourse tells me what that would be; only that its bad."

"Hmm, i ran into the same problem, and it looked to me like the actual ingredient mixture of lacewing flies and something in the potion would be the sourse. I still dont know what it would be though; its something I can look at tomorrow while you all catch up on your remaining essays."

"Lacewing and a boil potion?" hermione heard from behind her.

"seems like our intuition was right, i knew it wouldve been bad." fred added.

"I think its something that we-"

"can look forward to experimenting with"

"although i dont think-"

"it should be tested on anyone but malfoy."

"testing what on malfoy?" percy had aparently been listening to the last part but was either ignorant or too far away for the beginning.

"Lacewing and a cure for boils as a mixture" piers added, thinking that the answer would be something simple, but not covered until later. what he was not expecting was for percy to drop everything in his hands and glance around fearfully for anyone of authority within earshot.

"Who knows of this? i should warn you, if you dont tell me and i find out later, you all will be in a lot more trouble than you think you are in."

"uh, just us" John answered. "it happened in the potion class they just had, but they went to professor flitwick and he said they would be meeting with professor mcgonagall after dinner to find out everything that happened."

"and what did happen?"

"Draco added lacewing flies to piers and neville's potion, but piers started adding ingredients like crazy and came up with this" harry answered, holding up the two different vials.

After a second of inspecting the vial, percy seemed to visably relax, handing the vial back with a pointed look. "Dont tell anyone i said this, but this is a cure for splattergroit." Hermione had a now-shocked facial expression and piers looked like he just got the confirmation he was waiting for. "only tell professors about this, and i mean it, especially you two" Percy added looking at fred and george.

By then they were all seated at the gryffindor table, and they looked up to see all the heads of houses and the headmaster talking rapidly and glancing pointedly in their direction. Snape left their impromtu meeting looking like someone pissed in his wheaties and professors mcgonagall and flitwick nodded in their direction.

for the remainder of the meal, their group went over their plans for tomorrow and the remainder of their semester until christmas break. so far, there were no definite plans for halloween, but aparently the wizarding world had no trick-or-treating, but thanksgiving was something of a tradition more like boxing day or, as hermione reminded those that didnt remember, 4th of july for the americans. however, they all agreed that they would look to their families to see if they could extend their christmas traditions to include everyone in their group and their families somehow. they didnt know if they could all gather on one single day, or if there would be a rotation of sorts to acomadate everyone into the different locations. after an hour of swapping ideas and promises to ask all their families for the possabilities, the dinner feast was starting to break up, so they all started heading towards the head table to see what the plan was with the professors.

Professor Dumbledore decided to make hiself known to the students in a closer manner, and announced to them all that he would attend the meeting as well.

"We will be meeting in the transfiguration classroom, as it is closer and an excellent middle-ground for the different directions that needs to be taken by everyone involved."

After a short walk to the intended classroom, the group saw that a weird bowl-looking thing was in the middle of the table, and was glowing with a soft silvery hue. not a single person spoke up as to the strangeness, and even ron looked stumped as to what the bowl was, and why it was here. however, it seemed that professor mcgonagall knew where their curiosity was heading, so she decided to answer in her usual prompt manner.

"A pensieve, used for viewing memories, and extremely rare. I believe there is only five or six in existence currently, and the epitome of runic perfection." At her glance towards the seats in front of the desk, the group took their seats as the professors took theirs on the opposite side.

"To make this easier for all involved, we will be viewing both mister polkiss' and professor snape's memories of the incident. Professor snape has retracted the taken points, and given professor mcgonagall clearance to award points upon the revelation of what ocurred." the headmaster punctuated the statement by taking out his wand, and continued. "Professor snape has already added his own memory of the incident so now we await mr. polkiss' memory. Now, i need you to think of everything that happened from the start of the incudent until the last moment when the vials were filled. when you remember the entirety of it, nod and i will place my wand at your temple, then I will slowly pull the momory from your mind. it will not feel like anything at all, as it will only be a copy, but it will look like i am pulling smoke from your skin; dont worry about anything, as all it will take is a copy. now, when you are ready" Dumbledore trailed off.

After a nod from piers, the extraction started, and the group tried to hide their amazement as what looked like silvery smoke tied to the end of the wand was deposited into the bowl. at another nod from dumbledore, all three of the professors and the headmaster disappeared into thin air.

"oh, it looks like i missed it. Did they enter already?"

"Percy? what are you doing here" ron asked.

"professor mcgonagall asked me to come to make sure you all dont freak out when they disappear; i just took longer due to some circumstances in the common room."

"OH, well...yes, they just disappeared. how long will they be in there?" Harry asked

"depends, how long did the memory actually take place?"

"Um, about half an hour, i guess maybe 40 minuites at most?" piers hesitantly answered.

At neville's nod, percy answered with "well that means about 3 or 4 minutes. unless they need to review parts, a pensieve usually is a 1:10 scale. although the one that the dpartment of mysteries reportedly has is said to be able to adjust to anything from 1:1 to 1:1000, but that's a rumor. I dont even know if they have one at all."

"Well, it is the department of mysteries, who knows that goes on in that place" Neville added.

"Too right, Mr. Longbottom."

Turning around they spotted a shocked and amazed set of professors. "fifty points to slythern, mr. polkiss, for quick thinking and an amazing proficiency for potions. That was a sixth your potion, and above O.W.L. level."

"OWL level?" harry, dudley and piers all asked.

"Ordinary Wizard Level" hermione answered promptly. Its a fifth year examiniation, and NEWT, Nearly Exhausting Wizard Tests, is like a High School Diploma."

"Correct again Ms. Granger. I am truely surprised, however, that a first year could even creat that potion at all, let alone know what to do when lacewing flies were added to the cure for boils. How did that come about, exactly?"

"Professor Flitwick, that potion in particular was lost to me, but i knew what could and couldnt mix from a book i had found in the storage compartment next to the student ingredients cabinet in the potions classroom. I had found it and it didnt look like it belonged to anyone until i took it back to the common room after my first class. I would read the notes in the margin whenever i had time, but it was more curisity than knowing what i was reading." piers answerd.

"And what was the title of this book, mr polkiss? and did the book have any claim of ownership?" professor snape asked piers intently.

"um, i forgot the exact name of the book; the title and cover were almost completely disappered, like they were rubbed off from use, but the inside cover said it belonged to the half-blook prince. I tried looking that up, and asking the common room, but no one knew anything about that kind of name, so i just thought it was an abandoned book."

after an almost-invisible glance towards the headmaster, professor snape looked at piers with a fierce glare and just as fiercly responded with "That book is dangerous to all the read its entirety. I know to whom that book belonged to, and that is a sixth year book. However, if you wish it, i can give you the title of the book, but the advice in the columns you must discover yourself."

at a disappointed sigh for a response, piers just answered with "Yes, professor."

for a moment, professor snape seemed like he was relieved, but it seemed to the rest of them that the response was their dismissal. With nothing else to say, and glad to be out of the dreaded potion professor's presence, the group started towards the classroom door when they were stopped by another sentence from snape. "if you wish, I can provide an advanced class for those truely adept at precice potion making. be warned, if you wish to follow this course, you will be tested weekly, and this will not be for dunderheads or those that are just adequate. I only extend this offer to you, mr polkiss."

At a nod from said student. professor seemed to reply with a single nod. and a slip of parchment from a pocket of his robes.

Heading back towards the great hall to continue their separate ways, piers looked at the parchment and was persuaded to read the sentance aloud for the others. it read:

"every Friday after the dinner feast until 11:00; every Saturday: classroom instruction, followed by advanced instruction and practical application with break only at meal times. DO NOT DISSAPOINT."


	12. Interim: AN

okay, so i need to know how much you guys think of the story and things so far, where you think things will head, who will do what, and stuff like that. i am still trying to piece together what the book will have in it exactly and how it will show up later, but basically (no spoilers) its something that will help with the voldemort problems, as well as some of the govt problems that harry runs into (with hermione telling him what is wrong, of course.)

i dont mind any comment types, as long as they help :D

so far i am thinking of changing a few known characters other than just ppl that have already been mentioned (like neville), but so far ron, seamus/dean, the patils, greengrass, and davies are on the list to change, but the only ones that will be harsher/more evil will be the death eaters and their families/crimes, a few of the other slytherins, and a most likely a mystery non-slytherin or two. (you should know by now i dont give away spoilers).

content-wise, i am NOT a psychologist so i have no true idea where the 'ripples' of the changes would actually do. it should be noted that the first 4 chapters were written in about 4 hours due to an insane dream i had one night. (the story was a dream, and i woke up about where ch 18-25 would normally end, but i could only write down the first 4 chapters, and remember what happened in a vague kind of way until about 18-25). I did remember that everyone in the story (main chars) will have a specialty, and a semi-specialty, and i wont outright tell you who is better in what, but i want you guys to make estimates as to who you think should be better at what.

note: hermione doesnt count, as her specialty is "studying" and near-perfect memory...and that aides her in "book-style learning" while others (not everyone) is better or favors hands-on learning, especially harry, piers, and neville. (my theory is that that is the reason neville took so long to become better at his studies in cannon). however, just as HOL has its down sides, so does NPM or BSL. it will take her a while to be able to have the 'gut-reaction' like harry does in cannon.

story-wise, since the dursleys have changed so much from cannon, there will be other changes towards some of the decisions that harry will face in the future, and i WILL need your guys' help with planning out how/what those decisions will actually be (but not until after 2nd year, i have that planned out already). especially since the horcrux issue will be different. I will get to that in beginning of 3rd year after mentioning it in the end of 2nd year, and dumbles is going to be a bit different also...mostly because of minerva and the dursleys' intervention on behalf of harry/dudders, and the more-full explaination of what was exactly happening with the WW via minerva. also, some of the achievments and tasks that are done will be different. (like what an order of merlin is valued at on levels of prestige, since i dont think some of the things that happened in cannon were properly explained.

oh, another thing is the goblins. they WILL be different in this story, but youll have to read just how different after 2nd year, and there will be more "racist" issues with what the toad lady (yes, i know her name) would call "half-breeds."

now directly to the readers: i actually do want your input for ideas of a wide variety of things that will be covered, especially later on, as some of the classes offered for post-3rd year will be of a larger list. included are alchemy, enchanting (but only after owls for both), etiquette classes (includes both wizard AND muggle as one class), and a few minor classes that are evening-only classes like some of the different languages. the readers input will be what VERSION of these classes will be offered...(ie: alchemy= like full-metal alchemist, like buso renkin/arms alchemy, or like fate/stay night?...and what actual type of enchanting will be taught/learned?)

one thing i will say is that i have an idea for "types" of spells that will be a LOT different than cannon, and one of them is "location-based spell types." best way i can give an example is this: think of any spell. what does the spell look like? what color is the beam/light or effect...now think of one that doesnt have a beam/light or indicator... i can name wo right now... alomohora and accio. what color is their beam? where do you aim at? or can you say one of them anywhere while the other you MUST aim it at the target. thats the kind of difference that will be in the "types" of spells. i was going to give a hint, but decided better of it.

i accept all opinions and will be adding a refs list at the end of the book.


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